Use your tools - Know what is out there just for you!

Making life easier is something that alot of business owners are seeking. You may not have the time to look around, but if you do, there are some incredible online tools available to make your life easier.

The first one that I like to use is Hootesuite this social media manager allows you to log in and update multiple social media sites all at once! If you have been avoiding social media due to time issues - this is the product for you. I can log into hootesuite, write a status update that will be uploaded to twitter, facebook, linkedin and my 2 facebook pages. And I can do schedule when I want them to update - going on holidays for a week, but still want to bring attention to your website - easy!

You may have noticed my newsletters come out via Mailchimp, this simple and effective tool allows me to write newsletters in HTML format, include images and instantly send or schedule to send in a week. With the added bonus of being able to store multiple newsletters - you can have your next 4 newsletters done and dusted today - set and forget!

Looking to outsource your webcontent, articles, newsletters or logo design (or anything else you can think of)? Check out the talent on Elance, Fiverr,Burnyourtodolist or Odesk. These sites have thousands of people listed with all sorts of talent. Fiverr is a heap of fun because it has listed all the things that people will do for $5! From unique gifts to recording a testimonial!

Online outsourcing is just another way to free up your valuable time. If your time is most valuabley spent meeting and greeting clients - then your focus should be to outsource everything that is not meeting and greeting clients.

Here's to a great week in business. Tanja

What your customers really think

What your customers really think!

You would like to know - wouldn't you? Then ask them - it really is as simple as that. You must be prepared for the good, the bad and the ugly though. Giving your customers the opportunity to give you feedback on your products and service allows you to get some honest feedback - which might just hurt - but will allow you to improve your service and not just keep existing clients, but retain new customers that come along.

Give your clients the option of returning the survey anonymously, or filling out their details. You can help clients want to complete your survey by offering some sort of prize or 'special offer'.

The value of a customer survey is often underestimated, though when you think about it - these people have chosen your service, experienced your service and continue to use your service - who better to comment on how you are going?

You can even create a survey for outgoing or previous clients - it doesn't hurt to ask for their feedback!

Choose your questions wisely - try to limit the survey to 10 or 15 questions and avoid questions about the actual cost of your service - you don't wan't people thinking that you are not confident in your prices. If you put in a 'comments' section they will be sure to tell you in here if they think you are overpriced etc.

Don't forget to add to the bottom of the survey a section for a testimonial for use in advertisements. For example "We would love to have your comment for use as a testimonial on our website - please comment below and write your name as you would like it to appear" *note - your personal information will not be given to a third party - all names will appear in the following format - E B Jones Coffs Harbour"

There are many options for sending out your survey - one that I like to use is surveymonkey.com

I would love to hear of your feedback!

What your customers really think

What your customers really think!

You would like to know - wouldn't you? Then ask them - it really is as simple as that. You must be prepared for the good, the bad and the ugly though. Giving your customers the opportunity to give you feedback on your products and service allows you to get some honest feedback - which might just hurt - but will allow you to improve your service and not just keep existing clients, but retain new customers that come along.

Give your clients the option of returning the survey anonymously, or filling out their details. You can help clients want to complete your survey by offering some sort of prize or 'special offer'.

The value of a customer survey is often underestimated, though when you think about it - these people have chosen your service, experienced your service and continue to use your service - who better to comment on how you are going?

You can even create a survey for outgoing or previous clients - it doesn't hurt to ask for their feedback!

Choose your questions wisely - try to limit the survey to 10 or 15 questions and avoid questions about the actual cost of your service - you don't wan't people thinking that you are not confident in your prices. If you put in a 'comments' section they will be sure to tell you in here if they think you are overpriced etc.

Don't forget to add to the bottom of the survey a section for a testimonial for use in advertisements. For example "We would love to have your comment for use as a testimonial on our website - please comment below and write your name as you would like it to appear" *note - your personal information will not be given to a third party - all names will appear in the following format - E B Jones Coffs Harbour"

There are many options for sending out your survey - one that I like to use is surveymonkey.com

I would love to hear of your feedback!

My guest blog on BUSTING OUT!

Here is the link to my guest blog on Busting Out!

http://bustingout.com.au/a-real-life-busted-out-journey/

Love the whole 'Busting Out' concept & am filled with gratitude at the opportunity to do a guest post! Thanks Renee,

x x

Tanja