skills

Market Your Skills into an Online Business

by

Do you want to start an online business and don’t know what to do? In order to pick a service it’s best to go by the skills you currently have. You can translate most of what you have done in the working world, volunteer world, or as a parent into an income producing service.  Get a piece of paper and write down what your skills are.

expert

A few more ideas for service businesses are:

  • Graphic Designer
  • Web Designer
  • Social Media Marketing
  • Programming
  • Data Entry
  • Copywriting
  • Online Marketing
  • WordPress Websites Services
  • Online Research
  • Online Bookkeeper  

Don’t worry; if you have gaps in your skills, there is a lot of training online available to you. There is, for instance, a vast network of Virtual Assistants out there who have organized and created training to help you learn how to provide almost any type of service you want to provide.  But, starting with your own skills and choosing something you can see yourself doing, day in and day out is an important first step. Next identify your gaps and seek out the training necessary.

solution

Another method of choosing services to offer is to identify your target audience first, then create a service for them that solves a specific problem that they have. If you enjoy working with children for instance, and you have a lot of insight on children you might find a service to offer Moms that solves a problem or issue that they have with their children. If you focus on solving a problem of your target audience your services will always be in demand.

In fact, even if you choose a service to provide from the list on the first page, you will still need to choose a target audience for whom you wish to provide those services. It will make your marketing efforts a lot easier when you know who you want to work with. Your target audience never will be “anyone” it will always be a sub group that you can identify by demographics information. It will help you run your business leaner, with less stress, and even help you know what to charge.

Do You Have What It Takes to be an Online Entrepreneur?

by

start-online-business

Having an online business has many advantages. You don’t need transportation to get to work, nor do you need special business clothing. You simply need to know how to do the services you want to provide, and have a desire to do it. To run an online business you need the same type of skills and personality characteristics that you would need to run an offline business: 

skills

Self-Motivated — No one is going to tell you what to do, so you need to be able to get things done without anyone breathing down your neck.

Persistent — Be willing to work long hours without an immediate paycheck.

Consistent — Never give up and keep on keeping on.

Focused — Able to be attentive to your business during business hours without being easily distracted.

Visionary — Able to see the big picture.

Optimistic — Be hopeful for the future even if today is hard.

Risk Tolerant — You can see that the reward outweighs the risk but also be willing to lose it all if you  have to.

Resilient   — Bounce back when something goes wrong, learning from mistakes and seeing the positive in the negative.

Communicator — Being a good communicator whether by email or by voice is an important part of working online. You will often not get to communicate in person therefore you’ll lose body language which is actually most of our understanding of each other.

Leader — You need to be a leader in terms of having a take charge mentality, but part of leadership is also the ability to delegate when needed.

Ethical — If you’re not honest and above board, it’ll be hard for you to be a long term service provider to anyone so always be above requirements when it comes to being ethical. Remember, legal isn’t always right.

Active Listener — When listening to someone it’s on you to understand what they are saying and ask the right questions to increase understanding.

Problem Solver — Able to figure things out on your own for the most part, or know who to ask.

Creative — While you don’t have to be an artist, sometimes you have to be technically creative to find solutions to doing a job completely online that you may not have considered.

Opportunistic — Able to see a great opportunity when it comes before you, make fast decisions and move forward.

Planner & Organizer — Having the ability to coordinate yourself and other people will come in handy as an online service provider.

Knowledgeable — You must be an expert in your niche to be effective with your service business.

In addition, to have an online business you need computer and technical skills. You need to know how to work your computer and the various software that need to be used to complete your tasks.  If necessary, you’ll also need to be able to help your clients learn their computer and technology too.  If you don’t know how to check your email, upload and download files, and get around on the Internet you’ll need to learn those basics before having an online service business.

When and How to Hire Someone for Social Media

by

hiresocialmedia

Hiring a social media manager or assistant is often a difficult choice. People often try to do their own social media for as long as possible, even when it’s clear that it’s not the highest leverage way possible to use their time. For one reason or another, even managers and business owners who’re keen on outsourcing everything else often insist on doing their own social media.

But at some point, this can become a real bottle cap. Once your social media activities reach a certain threshold, it really becomes a full or part time job. You can’t run your business and run your social media any longer.

So how do you know when you reach the point where you should hire a social media manager? And how do you choose an “A Player” social media specialist? Let’s take a look.

 

When to Hire a Social Media Manager

When is it the right time to hire someone to take on your social media responsibilities? Here are a few common signs.

 

  • It takes more than 2 hours a day. Once you get to the point where you’re spending 3 or 4 hours a day on social media, it’s time to look at outsourcing.
  • You feel stressed and overworked because of social media. It stops being fun.
  • You’re prevented from launching major initiatives because you don’t have time to manage it. For example, you can’t launch a social media contest because you don’t have the time to run it.
  • You find managing social media distracting. It affects your productivity and prevents you from performing at your best.
  • Your revenues reach the point where your time is more valuable than the person you’d hire’s. This can happen sooner than you realize in a business.

When you hit one or more of these issues, it’s probably time to make the switch.

What to Look for in a Social Media Manager

 

socialmediamanagerFirst off, it’s important to realize that you can hire a social media manager part time. If you don’t have full time needs, don’t feel pressured to hire a full time manager.

Second, realize that you don’t have to hire someone who brands themselves as a social media specialist. A web savvy, driven and passionate hire who’s able to learn quickly can often do just as well as a social media specialist at a fraction of the cost.

All that said, here are a few things to look for when you’re hiring a social media manager.

  • They’re passionate about social media. They use it in their spare time. They love everything about interacting with other people online and being an online connector.
  • They’re familiar with multiple platforms. They should know and understand how to use LinkedIn, Google+, Facebook, Twitter and so on.
  • They love to learn and they learn quickly. Part of the job will often involve them learning new skills. In order for them to pick up those new skills quickly, they have to absolutely love learning.
  • They need to be able to write articulately and take on different voices. They should be able to write in both professional tones and humorous tones.
  • In addition to the people side of social media, they should also understand the analytical side. They should understand metrics, understand tracking and understand analytics.

4-Stats

Finding a great social media manager shouldn’t be too difficult. The trick in many cases is finding someone you absolutely love to work with.

 

Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn – Where to start?
Start Ranking Now will establish your online presence by creating social media profiles with links back to your main sites. We will then proceed to build out your profiles and enter into the conversation by posting updates to your profiles on a regular basis.