Month: July 2015

Entrepreneur! You Need to Know Inbound Marketing.

Posted on by Zinga H

inbound balance represented with a pea balancing on a rock. the quote says instead of interrupting work on attracting by dharma shahDo you want to attract more customers online?

Do you need to attract more customers in real life?

Marketing is a business fundamental you need to know as an entrepreneur. Technology is constantly improving and enhancing how we communicate with our community. Ignoring new trends, technologies, and strategies could cause the next generation of your product or service user to turn blind to your presence. Shine your neon lights online and in real life by discovering what inbound marketing has to offer.

Inbound Marketing is a group of strategies and tactics that helps serve your customers better while boosting your brand to the top of the list as delivering quality service and products. Typically an internet marketing strategy Inbound Marketing includes creating content (blog articles, white papers, webinars) to attract your customer and help them consider which of your products or services you offer that can help them. Inbound marketing is about bringing the customer that already wants your product or service to your doorstep.You earn your customer’s attention by simply capturing it with the information they can honestly use. As well all strive to conduct good business, we all turn to the internet to help improve our offerings. When you establish yourself as a person who offers quality, your target audience will trust your brand’s link in the search engine results. Being easy to be found locally and on the web while drawing customers in with your value offers will keep you competitive and distinguish you from the crowds. Here are five questions to consider when moving towards an inbound marketing strategy.

Who’s my target audience?

Defining the person most likely to be looking for your services is necessary so you can better communicate to their wants, needs, and desires. This is called defining your persona in the inbound marketing strategy. One quick way to build your persona is to find one person that fits the match and then exploring them fully. How did they grow up? Where did they go to college? What are their hopes? What are their hobbies? The more you know, the more your relationship with your customer can grow.

How am I represented on the web?

There are a plethora ways to announce your existence on the world wide web. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, Youtube, SnapChat, etc. where do we start? Well, first with your website. Your website is like your living room, and it is your chunk of the internet that contributes and represents you and only you. Next, it is up to you to choose what social media platforms will best share your message. Usually, you would start with where your persona may surf the web. Then expand from there. If it all sounds like too much to manage, choose a platform like Hootsuite to pre-schedule your posts.

What do I consistently offer my customers?

Next what will you share with your customers? Share their interests, especially ones tied to your industry, product, or service. Make sure what you share represents your values and to properly promote the content of others by linking back to them or citing their work. Staying consistent will help your customers recall your brand, name, product, and service at the right moment and right time. They will remember you for what you offer and seek to turn to you first.

What can I teach my customers?

Developing your content and providing quality offerings to your customers is key to developing your inbound marketing strategy. While sharing content keeps you involved and fresh in the social media world, developing content is what keeps your customers coming back to you. What can you share the world? Are you developing a cookbook? Share recipes that didn’t make it in or cooking techniques to help build their skills.

HubSpot.com  offers incredible information on improving your Inbound Marketing Strategy. The also deliver a plethora of content from blogs to courses to help you explore deeply. Check out a YouTube video below for information. For more free information and relevant content be sure to sign up for next August’s newsletter where we discuss finding your buyer’s journey.

Here’s some great books to read around Inbound Marketing

photo credit: Zen of Pea Gravel via photopin (license)

one more move omm

One More Move: Visualize Your Vision

Posted on by Zinga H

Note: Hello Readers, I am switching the title of One Move Monday to One More Move. This way I can post when inspired as  opposed to just on Mondays, but I will still regularly post once a week on Monday.

one more move omm

    Now One More Move!

In honor of the workshop I am hosting in Kent, Ohio I am sharing one technique to help build your future of abundant success: visualization. One of humanity’s greatest gifts is the power to imagine a future reality prior to the moment arising. We can foresee what we want our outcome to be and then have a blueprint to flexibly follow. Look to your future and see your greatness when you practice this visualization technique. One practice would be to record it in your own voice and then playing it during a 15 minute break.

Here’s the script from Infinite Futures.

Simple Tips For You To Impress at a Dinner Interview

Posted on by Zinga H

This is it. You’ve arrived. They only roll out the silverware and napkins for the most promising interviews. The dinner interview is your advancement into mid- or executive-level career positions. So, how do you masterfully wield your fork and career pitch to propel you forward into landing the job you most desire? Similar to the regular interview you must do your research, prepare your presentation, and show gratitude in order to bring awareness of the values you can bring to an organization. Here are 3 ways to sharpen your dinner interviewing skills.

Impressive dinner interview

Research the organization

Showing up to a job interview, not knowing about the organization, the person you are meeting, or even the industry you are entering is a quick way to crumble your opportunity away. Take it a step further by considering the bigger picture and vision that the company will be considering. Weave the organization into the network of all organizations and show that you can see with the lens needed to be successful within your future position.

Pitch Pleasantly

One thing you have for you at a dinner interview is it is so easy to display your character and ability to interact with others. How so you ask? The servers! A restaurant is full of people working in unison to help produce an enjoyable experience for their customers. All good businesses do this. Join in with the restaurant team and to show how well you interact with the world around you. Say please, thank you, and keep your table area clean. Work with them and display respect as if you had to work with these people every day. There is no easier way to display your grace than to do this. Treat your server poorly and you may do well to leave an unpleasant taste on your potential employer’s tongue.

Chew Well

This advice goes both literally and figurately. It can be easy to over talk during any interview, they added a casual atmosphere of a restaurant can allow your words to flow easy like a steady stream. To impress, ask important questions and weigh in on the answer while you chew your food thoroughly, then swallow and then speak or ask a more clarifying question. The dinner interview is a time to languish in the organization and treat it as if it is a potential partner you are taking on a date. Enjoy their company and don’t rush through your resume of skills and accomplishments. This interview is about them and the things you will do for them. Here are more tips on questions to ask to show an organization you care.

The dinner interview is a great way to get your seat at the table. Use your knowledge, words, and body language wisely and you will be sure to leave an impression.

photo credit: rack of lamb presentation II (license)

leading teams for difficult times

Leadership for Difficult Times

Posted on by Zinga H

leading teams for difficult times

Lead Your Teams With Your Head Grounded

Dealing with difficult times is a part of doing business. From running out of paper on copy machines to not having enough quality time with the people you care about can cause a low-level amount of stress that can be overcome with smart healing moves. What happens when the amount of unrest in external influences starts to seep into the productivity of your team. Caring about  external aggravations, stressors, and threats can keep your team feeling secure enough to focus applying their full potential. How can leaders better lead their teams when times are stressful? Here are 5 bits of wisdom to consider

Build awareness

Knowing what is causing stress within your team. Ask questions and listen to the different insights and concerns your team is building around the point of concern. Build awareness within yourself as well. Find when your fears or temper is getting the best of you and spot stress-management techniques to improve your state of being.

Encourage communication

While some of your team may be very vocal about the shaky times your are in or that are beginning, some others may not be so engaged. Getting every team member on board in your organization will require reminding everyone that communication isn’t only encouraged, but a priority. Schedule productive meetings, have an anonymous comment and suggestion box, and remind every one of the confidentiality and protection policies you have in place.

Remember your mission

It is easy to get blindsided in a disaster. What keeps you in place is your purpose and end goals. While steering your organization forward may require flexibility it is important to always keep in mind what you are steering toward.

Provide avenues for stress relief

Tumultuous times often cause undue stress on leadership and team members. Relaxing the body and mind will keep your company’s spirits lifted. Host retreats, bring in healthy fruits, have a company potluck and remind your everyone to take care of themselves.

Acknowledging challenges is a positive sign of good leadership within your company and a step in your journey of small business success. When the tough times arise, it is time for even more assessment, experience, and communication to ensure that you continue to fulfill your mission and vision.

photo credit: 13a.LedelleMoe.Collapse.Lofts14Two.WDC.29jul06 via photopin (license)

Hack your sleep routine

5 Ways to Hack Your Sleep Routine

Posted on by Zinga H

Hack your sleep routine

Sleeping is important. When it comes to your growing list entrepreneurial ventures using sleep to keep your mind and body fueled will become ever important. Sleep keeps us alert, happy, motivated, and creative. These are all qualities needed to sustain the long hours, pivot  gracefully and receive more opportunities in your life. Check out 5 ways to enhance your sleep schedule, so you can advance your wake time.

  1. Wake Up Earlier – There are several ways to do wake up earlier in the mornings. The first is to have a reason to wake up. Knowing what you want to do with your time will help convince you to wake up. Also, it will give you a good routine to flow into right after turning off your alarm. Besides having a plan, one action to take is to set your alarm at your normal start time then set it ten minutes earlier each morning progressively.

Tweet tip! Ditch your cell alarm and switch to a standalone alarm, that way you can charge in another room and minimize cell phone distractions – 

  • Take Naps – Taking naps is shown to have great effects on our productivity [link]. Many of my friends look at me incredulously when I say I take naps daily. How do I do it? I practice. Start in your nap spot and set your alarm for a 5-minute nap, then a 7 minute, then 10. Work your way up to a 20-minute nap and you will have the power nap [link] mastered.
  1. Sleep in Phases – Poly-phase sleeping is the practice of sleeping on a schedule of multiple smaller rests throughout the day over one long rest during the night. In essence, it’s your nap routine pumped to the max. I’ve not mastered this, but some people manage to get their sleep down to two hours a day. What a dream. Steve Pavlina explains this how to do this in detail.
  1. Meditate – I’ve heard 20 minutes of meditation is equal to 4 hours of rest. Try just one minute [link – YouTube video] to start. The increase in oxygen to your system will help it feel satisfied and mellowed, like the rest you can get from a well-maneuvered massage.
  1. Write Before Bed – Sometimes going to sleep can be difficult, especially for the entrepreneurial mind that often races with new ideas. One way to settle your mind is to take the time to write them all out before going to bed.

A good sleep schedule is a great practice in personal leadership. Take the time to nurture your body and your body will nurture you.

 

photo credit: Dormir en N&B via photopin (license)

One Move Monday: Mountain Pose

Posted on by Zinga H

Mountain Pose

Photo credit: Crazy Sun Om

Mountain pose. To the lax eye it would seem a person is just standing. Mountain pose requires much more of us. In a sense it is the perfect pose for being in full connection with our bodies. The poses we wear affect our projection of confidence with others and ourselves. Take the time to stand fully and revel in your body’s ability to ground itself while simultaneously reaching its height.

Therapeutic benefits of the pose are:

  • Reduce the effects of flat feet.
  • Improve your posture.
  • Strengthens the lower part of your body and load bearing joints.
  • Improve concentration and increase alertness.

Here’s a video by a favorite Youtube instructor, Adriene.

Follow the 12 minute video or read  more about the pose here.

Find your balance today.

Tech Review: Build a Cleaner Resume with Resume

Posted on by Zinga H

When job searching it is important to spend a time catering your resume to each and every position. Taking the time to keep track, modify, and distribute multiple resumes can be draining, add making them modern and beautiful and you can find yourself consumed with time spent on just your resume alone. One website that helps makes this process easier for the job search is Resumonk.

online resume builder resumonk

Resumonk offers users easy design, fair pricing, and a sleek interface. Although there are some cons overall, the website delivers and has become a favorite since emurse went away.

Easy design

When first using Resumonk users have the option to start from scratch or import their LinkedIn Profile. The import tool was great because it brought in all facets of my profile, including any recommendations others have left. One downside was it listed all my skills. While useful you will have to pare down as it will take up a lot of space on your resume. It is easy to navigate from section to section, and there are many options to design your resume as you see fit.

Fair pricing

Resumonk is a freemium website. While you can use it for free, I ended up purchasing the subscription because I enjoyed the premium resume designs offered. A lifetime plan is $59 dollars while a 1-year plan is $20. Depending on how long your job search will take $20 for a year should be plenty of time to design, re-design, and distribute an unlimited amount of resumes.

Sleek Interface

A lot of resume builders online are ugly and as dreadful as filling out an online job application. Resumonk gets past that by paying attention to the design. The templates are well worth using and the fact that it pairs the design with the cover letter makes this web application a true professional service. Finally your dashboard provides you with all your past resumes to copy, edit, and reuse, making your job application process much easier.

Cons

While I will be using Resumonk for a while. I do hope they improve their resume template options. Although there are 4 pages, without the promise of more to come, I worry their designs will become generic as more users purchase their services. It should also be easier to transfer sections and pieces of one resume over to others. Finally, the import from LinkedIN can be awkward as it tends to list your oldest job at the top, requiring me to re-arrange in present chronological order.

Overall Resumonk is a great resume builder and tracker. You get to make 4 free resumes with the free option so check it out today!

Resumonk

HowZinga Hart.com One More Move Foot Yoga - Two feet crossed together Photo found on unsplash.com and was taken by -Soon Ngu www.flickr.com/photos/soon91/

One More Move: Foot Yoga

Posted on by Zinga H

 

 

A balanced body is a productive mind. Ground yourself today by pampering one of our heavily used (or not) body parts the foot. Built as a natural representation of balance our feet hold us up steady and when taken care of can move us forward to destinations hosted at the furthest reach of our overall vision.

For One More Move, care for your feet and open yourself up to a deeper feeling of being balanced, grounded, and overall more healthy. Here’s an excellent yoga video made specifically for caring for your feet.

Note* (Updated from One Move Monday on 12-19-15)

Tech Tool Review

Posted on by Zinga H

Canva is a tool to buy to make your marketing life easier. Simple design, lots of options, and a simple pricing model make it a web app worth investing in. I run leadership events in Northeast Ohio and creating flyers for the event I almost immediately turn to Canva. It works so great, you won’t regret investing in it as a simple tool for your business.

Canva a semi-free graphic design app

Easy to use

Canva is a simple web app and you can access it anywhere and anytime. It’s easy to share using links and there is no download needed to share designs. It uses a two-panel design where you drag-and-drop images, designs, and clip art to your visual marketing content. There is also an option to automatically optimize design sizes using an array of pre-cut formats in the size of Facebook picture posts, twitter posts, web page banners, infographics, etc. Canva keeps it easy to use and there are a ton of ways to incorporate it in your marketing strategy.

Tons of free options

Free web apps are a dream for anyone charged with marketing for their start up. Canva offers tons of high-quality graphics and beautiful designs to use in your marketing material. I have used Canva to create many formats enhanced for web use. Colors are easy to change to add your can upload and use your own graphics for free adding even more to your design options.

Simple pricing model

Canva’s free options make web marketing easy and even fun. Canva monetizes its model by charging a dollar for premium flyer elements, clipart, backgrounds, and designs. It’s straight-forward and there is no need to sign up for a monthly subscription. While, I use the free options often, I buy the stock art they offer because it is good quality. It also makes it easy to market quickly and consistently.