Take a look at Facebook for any length of time, and you’ll see post after post of business owners pitching their stuff. Hair offers, beauty offers, blah blah blah. But people don’t buy stuff. They buy YOU. They buy your story.
So what’s your story? And do you tell your story, your background, yourself?
This week I clicked on a link that took me to an article with the preposterous headline
Yes, that’s SIXTY social media platforms this writer insists that – for some reason – you ‘need’ to know about. The mind boggles. Most business owners struggle to get their heads around managing one or two different social media accounts, let along 60 of the damn things. Who has the time?
So it got me thinking…what IS the most important thing for a small business owner to concentrate on this year?
Tuesday, March 21, 2017. A little bit east of Rottnest Island.
A richly varied day. Eight o’clock this morning I’m in a video meeting with Leanne Galea, owner of the private label salon products company U Brand in Sydney, thrashing out the details of how we’re going to drive new leads into her website.
Last Friday we set up a landing page for her, and by this morning that page (you can see it here) had already generated more than 30 inquiries. I suggested we hold off from promoting that landing page to our wider database of some 12,000 salons & spas all over the world. “My god no, don’t do that,” she said, “I’m struggling to handle the leads you’ve already brought in!”
Right after that, another long video consulting session with long-term WSM member Lesley Morgan-Wesson (also in Sydney), to discuss major changes to her website, to make it appeal more to a discerning clientele on Sydney’s north shore.
In Coolum, Queensland, Ebony Beauty Express owner Kim Susskind (a member for more than 3 years) wanted help to launch her new Beauty Pay system, whereby clients can get high-end treatments without paying for them up front. We discussed setting up a special page on her website just for that purpose, and a campaign to email and text her clients with links to that page.
Then, in Perth’s CBD with Lucy Johnson, who manages a large new medical cosmetic practice, I mapped out a plan for a comprehensive overhaul of their online marketing presence. (They haven’t even claimed their Google Business Listing yet, which is vital for people searching any local area for any local service.)
Then it was back over to Queensland, where another long-term Member, Marian Green of Vicki’s Hairtrix salon in Kippa-Ring, wanted me to show her manager Rebecca how to navigate through the huge marketing resources on our Million Dollar Salon Marketing resources website (www.salon-professionals.com)
In between all that, a panicked call from another long-term member in country Victoria, concerned about untrue and defamatory statements made about her business by a former client on a social media site.
Here’s the thing about social media: people often think they can get away with derogatory comments about a business just because it’s on social media. But if you’re wrong about the facts, and those false statements can be shown to risk damaging a small business’ reputation, you can be liable for defamation, and possibly heavy damages.
Further, the owner or administrator of that site – that is, the publisher – can equally be held liable.
I took a screen shot of the comments, emailed them to her, and advised her to seek legal advice. A letter from a competent solicitor should sort that out.
All in all, a productive day!
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