By Nerida Gill, Admin Bandit

If social networking is the new frontier of small business, then Facebook must surely be the wagon that gets us there. However, showing up and staking a claim isn’t enough; you’ve got to work that claim to unearth any riches.

I’ve been optimising my own Admin Bandit fan page over the last few months and here’s what I’m learning.

Use applications to make your page different

“Customisation” is the Facebook buzz word right now. What it means is that you can modify the look and functionality of your fan page… and you don’t need to be an IT geek to do it. All you need is one of the many templates available online (the basic ones are free, while the more advanced attract a monthly fee) — setting it up is like painting by numbers.

For example, I used Lujure to create my “welcome” tab, which is the first thing non-fans see when they go to my page. I’ve added a banner, photograph, Twitter feed, testimonials and a link to a 55-day free trial of my accounting software.

A friend who runs a small saddlery on Facebook used Pagemodo to create her “welcome” tab. Compare the two to see just how flexible customisation applications are; the same basic technology has created two “welcome” tabs that are chalk and cheese.

Of course, you don’t need to stick to a single application. Horse Feathers Saddlery used Payvment to create a Facebook store, complete with an inventory function and a check-out linked to Paypal.

Just as exciting is how easy customisation applications are to find. The best ways are to check out the fan pages of other businesses in your industry, especially your competitors or do a Google search.

How to attract fans

Ah, this is where the rubber hits the road for fan pages… getting people to “like” you.

Let me say upfront that attracting fans is not a popularity contest — all fans, whether they purchase or not, have the potential to share quality content and boost your social proof; that is, your credibility and influence.

Start with the marketing basics:

• Add your Facebook address to your stationery, including your email signature, blog and website
• Regularly link to your fan page in electronic communications, especially blog posts and e-newsletters
• Give people reasons to “like” you. Make the benefits clear, such as special offers, free resources or sneak previews
• Ask. It sounds too good to be true, but “plugs” and requests through your personal Facebook page really work!

Apart from buying fans (yes, believe it or not, you can!), a competition or giveaway is the best way to get a sudden influx of fans, up to a couple of hundred at a time, especially the more elusive kind that you don’t personally know. However, Facebook has specific guidelines on hosting anything that comes under the “promotion” banner, so make sure you’re familiar with what you can and can’t do, and toe the line because I know people who have been unwittingly caught and temporarily suspended!

Viral marketing requires more work and doesn’t bring the same instant fix, but it does offer a sustained trickle for steady, long-term growth of fans genuinely interested in your business, not just the lure of a freebie.

In case you don’t know, viral marketing is about increasing awareness of your brand using pre-existing social networks. In the case of Facebook, it means regularly and actively participating in other fan pages, where you’ll meet and attract like-minded people. The really cool part is that every time you leave a comment or tag another user in a comment, you appear in at least one person’s news feeds, which puts you in view of that person’s entire network. Now, that offers possibilities!

So, which fan pages do you head to? The easy answer is to start with those related to your industry and expertise. For example, my business is part of the non-profit, accounting and IT industries, so you’ll see a stack of community, non-profit, philanthropy, IT and small business groups and peak bodies in my list of “likes”.

How to engage your fans

Getting conversations started is probably the biggest Facebook struggle for any small business. And it seems no expert or study has a fool-proof solution… yet.

Until anyone knows for sure, here are some ideas to try:

• Be human: share the bad with good, post photos of your office, life and day
• Don’t over-think your posts; say whatever pops into your head (within reason!)
• Ask for opinions and experiences, but make your questions quick and easy to answer
• Appeal to the emotions… people often respond to humour or injustice
• Thank people for simply being your fans
• Mix business and fun: I posted a photo of my dog at Christmas and my team at a convention with a spy theme
• Post regularly, BUT….
• Post quality over quantity: useful links, information, advice, famous quotes
• Tag people when you post about them or respond to comments
• Host Facebook events, such as sales, workshops, Q and A sessions
• Finally, look at super popular fan pages… what do they do?

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By Kristy-Lee Johnston, Footprint Recruitment

I found myself watching one of those ‘property search’ style shows the other day and was reminded just how similar the search for employees can be to that search for the elusive, ideal property.

I think, particularly for small businesses, the similarities are even more clear and here’s why:

1. You, the purchaser/employer start out with a lengthy and perhaps not all that realistic ‘wish list’.
2. You quickly learn that you will need to compromise, but in what area, by how much and at what cost?
3. It’s personal – typically you’re recruiting a new staff member for your own business, your brand, your ‘baby’. Just like typically when you purchase a house, it’s your money and you’re spending it for you.
4. The risks are high if the decision is wrong.
5. You are ultimately the one who deals with the consequences of a wrong choice, or wrong compromise.
6. At the end of the day, you’ve worked your backside off to get to this point, and you want to have your cake and eat it to, you don’t want to compromise – you want it all!

So how do you know whether you are looking for a rare needle in a haystack, or in fact you are looking for an impossible dream and need to compromise and move on?

Walk into the process with a clear understanding of what you are looking for and why.

It sounds odd, but understanding why you need or want certain skills will help you to further drill down and understand which skills, experiences and competencies are essential and which others would be great to have, but you could ultimately live without

Write yourself a values document for the new hire.

This is something I never learned in my years as a recruiter, but a rather clever business advisor shared this with me and having used it myself in my own small business, I think it’s fantastic!

What you do is make up a list of the values, beliefs, experiences, skills, qualifications, etc that your ideal new hire would have. What this does is allows you to clarify in your mind those ‘warm and fuzzy’ traits which will be most important to the individuals success within your business and your role, and gives you a great framework to assess all your applicants against.

Let’s face it, you will often find yourself saying that you liked a number of applicants, but each of them holds different strengths and weaknesses in terms of their experience. This is where this sort of document can make all the difference. If their values and beliefs don’t align, no matter how good their experience is, it would be destined for disaster.

Know where your target market is – and where to find them there.

What I mean is, know where your ideal applicant looks for work, which websites they trawl, which publications they read and what networking meetings and groups they’re likely to be at. But timing can also be everything; advertising for a role targeted at a ‘mum wanting school hours who used to have a high end corporate career’ in the middle of school holidays is probably not ideal – they’re busy!

Allow a realistic amount of time.

Of course, we all always want everything immediately, but sometimes it can take days, and possibly even months to find the right person. Perhaps a temp or contractor can help you get through the urgent stuff in the meantime.

Be open to change and think outside the box!

You have your wish list, but does it all have to be done by one person? Or can the tasks be broken up and completed by two or more part time, casual or contract staff? Sometimes it can be better to have people working in their areas of expertise, rather than trying to do all the tasks you want, some of them not always that well.

MORE GREAT POSTS BY KRISTY-LEE JOHNSTON:

• Top Tips to Set Your Team Up for New Year Success!
• New Year. New Career?
• Thinking Outside the Box: How to Prosper in a Candidate-Short Market

By Vivienne Kane, Minuteman Press Prahran

When you think Virgin, you think Richard Branson. McDonalds – Ronald McDonald. Victoria Bitter – a tradie in a singlet and stubbies.

Have you ever thought what your business would be if it came to life in human form?

What are the values and impressions you’d like to project?

Would you be a cool Gen Y with a couple of tasteful tatts and slightly out there dress sense? Or possibly a well groomed corporate type in a pinstripe suit? Or maybe a grey haired lady with a nana trolley? Would you be old or young, conservative or cutting edge, middle income or poor, an innovator or a follower?

If your business is an expression of who you are, and you think that’s important, it’s a very worthwhile exercise to think about this.

Is your brand personality someone your customers would buy from?

It’s particularly pertinent when you’re growing from a one woman band to an enterprise with multiple staff, some or all of whom have contact with your customers.

Imagine if your “business personality” is a smartly dressed forty something with a quirky sense of humour , but your front-line staff are all Gen Y’s with little training and no spark or interest in conversation. Perhaps your customers might be a bit confused.

Don’t assume everyone will understand your approach by osmosis. It needs to be explained as well as modelled. Role plays are a great tool. Of course, you don’t want the “business personality” to be a straight jacket – but your core values, approach to solving problems and conversational tone should all be clear, consistent and reflected by everyone in the business.

MORE GREAT BLOG POSTS BY VIVIENNE KANE

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Nikki Steadman, CEO of Loci Solutions, specialises in helping businesses find effective and practical solutions to their property management accounting and reporting systems.

Loci Solutions grew out of the desire to enhance the customer experience and system utilisation of current and potential clients in the property industry, primarily in the areas of property management and finance.

In this interview we discuss:

• How establishing a niche business has meant big wins for Nikki’s business
• Why the technology industry is a great career path for women
• How to get corporate doors to open up to your small business
• Nikki’s business success tips

Enjoy this interview with Nikki Steadman

Watch this interview on the Australian Businesswomen’s Network website

About the In Her Shoes series In Her Shoes is a regular video series presented by the Australian Businesswomen’s Network and BNet.com.au. Each interview features an inspiring businesswoman and her strategies for success. New episodes are released regularly. Become a Community Member for regular updates. StartUp and Growth Members get updates automatically. Become a Community Member with the Australian Businesswomen’s Network.

By Amy Lyden, Australian Businesswomen’s Network Advocacy Advisor

© Perth Now

Nick Sherry has stepped down as Minister for Small Business after only 15 months in the role, just prior to a major reshuffle by Prime Minister Julia Gillard this week.

The Prime Minister has appointed Mark Arbib, the 40 year old senator for NSW. Senator Arbib also holds the new role of Assistant Treasurer and retains his previous title of Minister for Sport.

There are 2 million small businesses in Australia, of which women own over 30%.

Senator Arbib quoted, “Small business is the heart of the economy. I… understand the importance of small business to jobs and wealth creation. They (small businesses) are the heart of Labor’s economic policy.” Senator Arbib was previously Minister for Indigenous Employment and Economic Development and Minister for Social Housing and Homelessness.

During the global financial crisis, he worked with small business to form and grow the $100 million Apprentice Kickstart Program whereby over 46,000 young Australians were helped to start apprenticeships, also helping close the skill gap felt by many small businesses.

The Australian Businesswomen’s Network welcomes Senator Arbib to this important new role and we look forward to working with him and his office to ensure the small business sector and particularly women-owned small businesses are well represented.

What issues are important to YOU that Senator Arbib should be aware of? Please post your thoughts and concerns.

MORE GREAT BLOG POSTS BY AMY LYDEN

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By Nerida Gill, Admin Bandit

I’m tempted to add “New Year’s resolutions” to my list of dirty words. The phrase is just too steeped with failure — it doesn’t help, of course, that the media loves to bombard us with abysmal statistics.

Apparently 25% of us can’t even stick to a resolution for a week and 88% fall by the wayside within a year.

There’s even an industry that analyses the top reasons we fail!

Are we really that pathetic?

No.

I think we fail because no-one has taught us to make effective resolutions — our resolutions are too vague and focus on the negative, which means we either have no plan of attack or have to deprive ourselves of something we love, such as chocolate.

So I’m not going to give up making New Year’s resolutions just yet… I’m just going to make ones that are specific and optimistic. I’ve brainstormed a list of bite-sized things we can all do to boost our businesses and refresh our enthusiasm in 2012.

Best of all, they’re (mostly) free and take less than five minutes to start!

Learn and grow

Professional development is a breeze, not to mention fun and inspiring when you:

• Join an association (and later take on a role)
• Get familiar with your local library’s business section
• Hire a consultant
• Attend a workshop or conference
• Learn how to write a press release

Get organised

A few simple strategies will transform the way you work. To get more done in less time and with fewer hassles:

• Set three to five specific goals at the beginning of each week
• Write a daily to-do list, tackling the most important tasks first
• Divide your time into blocks of related activities to reduce distractions and interruptions. For example, make your phone calls or answer your emails in a single sitting
• If you catch yourself procrastinating, ask yourself, “Is this the best use of my time?”
• Set a time limit on meetings and stick to it
• Spend 10 minutes a day doing those tasks you avoid… it quickly adds up.

Develop your business relationships

Networking doesn’t have to be scary; in fact, it can be surprisingly effortless:

• Join or friend business-related Facebook pages and regularly leave comments
• Say “thank you” more often: acknowledge everyone from your team members to the speaker at a seminar
• Decide to be cheerful: smile, compliment or chat to your customers, suppliers and associates, even if they’re grumpy or difficult
• Give people something for nothing: your time, advice, free samples or even small gifts

Attract more customers

Don’t have a marketing and promotions budget? A little creativity and Internet savvy go a long way:

• Join social networks. Get on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Flickr
• Start a blog or guest post on a related blog
• Create a new email signature with all your contact details, including address, phone numbers, email, website and social networking links
• Engage with small business forums: ask questions, leave comments and share your experiences
• Invite customers, suppliers and associates to join your mailing list
• Develop partnerships with complementary businesses
• Share your expertise: run free workshops, make videos for Youtube or write an e-book to download from your website
• Run a competition or donate prizes to an event
• Start an incentive/rewards program

MORE GREAT POSTS BY NERIDA GILL

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Angela Vithoulkas is the multi-award-winning CEO of VIVO cafe, one of Sydney CBD’s most recognisable cafe brands. She has forged a strong reputation for the cafe through clever marketing techniques and a belief that customer service excellence forms the basis of every successful business. She is passionate about small business, women in business, and social responsibility.

In this video interview we discuss:

• How Angela balances working IN her business (spending hours on the shop floor) and working strategically on business growth
• Why small business is a power behind Australia’s economy
• Why she doesn’t believe in “balance”
• How she has successfully used social media (Four Square specifically) to drive customers to her stores
• Plus, Angela shares your top strategies for making your small business work.

Enjoy this interview with Angela Vithoulkas

Watch this interview on the Australian Businesswomen’s Network website now.

About the In Her Shoes series In Her Shoes is a regular video series presented by the Australian Businesswomen’s Network and BNet.com.au. Each interview features an inspiring businesswoman and her strategies for success. New episodes are released regularly. Become a Community Member for regular updates. StartUp and Growth Members get updates automatically. Become a Community Member with the Australian Businesswomen’s Network.

By Nerida Gill, Admin Bandit

    Image by Pixomar*

“’Tis the season to be jolly,” goes the famous carol and I suggest the same applies to our small business activities at this time of year.

No, I’m not suggesting we turn Christmas into a cold, commercial transaction, but I do believe the many parties over the coming weeks give us the opportunity to celebrate our strong relationships and build new ones.

I’m well aware, of course, that many people think the words “work” and “party” are an oxymoron. Or, in fact, just a plain “moron” — we’ve all witnessed those awkward moments of silence or, worse, alcohol-fuelled liberation!

However, it doesn’t have to be that way. I have some ideas to make sure the Christmas parties you go to this year are fun, full of good cheer and networking successes.

When you’re the guest

My number one tip is probably the last one you’re expecting — it’s okay to decline an invitation.

You see, it’s about quality, not quantity.

And by that I mean attending a handful of Christmas parties with a networking strategy in hand is better than blindly chasing every balloon and streamer in town.

Consider these ideas:

• Look for parties hosted or attended by compatible businesses
• Find out who else is going to a party and create a list of people you’d like to meet, especially key decision-makers
• Always talk to your host and don’t be afraid to ask for introductions
• Aim to have quality conversations with 5-7 people
• Keep the conversation light and social — your aim is to meet people and have fun, not close a sale
• Don’t limit yourself to work parties — potential contacts have social lives too!

When you’re the host

Throwing a Christmas party is a great way to say “thank you” and reinforce existing relationships, not to mention reach out to new potential contacts.

One of the hardest things about organising an event is to provide guests with incentives to attend. Willingly. You want people to a come along feeling confident and relaxed…  and I have three ways to achieve this.

First, entice them with a gift.

This could be:

• A Literal gift, such as a goodie bag, discount voucher or door prize
• A memorable location, such as a museum, chic café or charter boat
• A guest of honour, such as a personality or expert in your field
• An activity, which could be anything from a magician or string quartet to wine tasting or a cooking demonstration or even a guest lecture or workshop. Just make sure your activity doesn’t cause embarrassment or discomfort… not everyone wants to go paintballing or do karaoke!

Second, make sure your party is easy to attend…

…which means sending invites that let your guests know exactly what to expect.

Apart from the obvious, include:

• A finish time
• The purpose of your party; for example, to celebrate increasing sales by 15% over the year
• Who is attending; for example, a select group of loyal and supportive friends, customers and associates
• The names of guests of honour, MCs or entertainers
• A dress code
• What refreshments will be served; for example, a buffet dinner or coffee with sweet Christmas treats
• Any speeches or activities that will occur.

Third, create a comfortable atmosphere and make meeting new people painless.

Do this by:

• Allowing guests to bring their own guest, such as a colleague or family members
• Providing name badges with big, clear writing. Don’t just write a person’s name… add their business, association or link to give context and spark conversation
• Making something happen early… have a welcome speech or some entertainment 15 to 20 minutes into the party to create a sense of unity and open opportunities for interaction
• Having an MC to guide guests through your party
• Having people whose job is to greet guests, start conversations, introduce people and keen an eye out for anyone at a loose end
• Making sure your refreshments are top notch!

Consider an e-party

In these days of global workplaces, not to mention impossible parking, an e-party or, more formally, a virtual event is perfect if you want your Christmas party to be a learning-based event, such as a seminar, workshop or q and a.

A successful e-party has five aspects:

1. Technology: while you can buy e-conferencing software, I recommend small business owners keep it simple and use Facebook, blogs or a forum on your website
2. A compelling topic: grab interest by discussing a trend, an item currently in the news or a problem that needs solving
3. Purpose and structure: know precisely what you want to achieve and have a chair to introduce experts and guide discussion
4. Engage participants: create interest and facilitate discussion with videos, images and plenty of opportunities for questions
5. Time: give a specific timeframe, ranging from an hour to a number of months.

To give you an idea just how successful even a simple virtual event can be, my friend has been following an ongoing thread on an Australian horse forum that allows horse owners to ask a snake expert questions. Seventeen pages and 3,683 views later, the thread is still on a hot topic on the front page!

MORE GREAT POSTS BY NERIDA GILL

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*Featured Image is by Pixomar

Lynette Mayne has held senior positions in large organisations all over the world. Her achievements are many and her resume extremely impressive. She has a Prime Minister’s Centenary Award for leadership in industry.

Lynette is the owner of Work Wear World, a leading supplier of work apparel to some of Australia’s largest corporations. In this interview she tells us about her transition from big business to a smaller enterprise, the challenges she has faced, skills she has drawn on, and success she has achieved.

We discuss:

• The lessons learned in corporate Australia that armed her with important skills for running her own business.
• What makes a good partnership or joint venture
• Why she’s a champion for women and the empowerment of women as leaders
• The biggest challenges she’s faced in business

Enjoy this interview with Lynette Mayne.

Watch this interview on the Australian Businesswomen’s Network website.

About the In Her Shoes series In Her Shoes is a regular video series presented by the Australian Businesswomen’s Network and BNet.com.au. Each interview features an inspiring businesswoman and her strategies for success. New episodes are released regularly. Become a Community Member for regular updates. StartUp and Growth Members get updates automatically. Become a Community Member with the Australian Businesswomen’s Network.

Jen Bishop is the publisher of Dynamic Business Magazine. At just 29 years old, Jen Bishop has already been a journalist for over a decade. She’s been a reporter, a news editor, an editor and is now the publisher of Dynamic Business Magazine, Australia’s premier source of small business news. All this is quite an achievement for this young dynamo who moved to Australia two and a half years ago.

Watch this interview on the Australian Businesswomen’s Network website.

About the In Her Shoes series In Her Shoes is a regular video series presented by the Australian Businesswomen’s Network and BNet.com.au. Each interview features an inspiring businesswoman and her strategies for success. New episodes are released regularly. Become a Community Member for regular updates. StartUp and Growth Members get updates automatically. Become a Community Member with the Australian Businesswomen’s Network.