My favorite tools in my toolbox that help make my business run.

Canva & How It can benefit you and your business!

If you haven’t heard of Canva, your life may be changed after this quick read. Canva is a learner-friendly, free application design tool that is allowing businesses around the world to try their hand in graphic design. From business cards to social media posts, Canva has what a business requires to succeed.  

Canva has many benefits, but the first is important to your business’s brand consistency—A place to keep assets all in one place for your convenience. This helps your business to stay on-brand with each and every creation. Brand colors, logos, and photos can all be saved on your Canva account.  

Another exciting benefit is the pre-designed templates available to you in a click. These designs have already been made for your business to utilize. If you feel like you just do not have the designing chops, these templates will truly save the day. All it will need is your brand’s special touch.  

Although the benefits of Canva are endless, this last advantage to this application is perfect for a business to utilize. On Canva, you have the ability to create a team and add the members needed. This is helpful because not only can you visibly see the creations your members are working on, but you also are able to assign roles to each member. Your team can work together to generate all that you need.  

If you are looking for an easy, quick way to create quality social media marketing collateral, Canva is your friend. If you are looking for some guidance along the way, WV Social Media would be more than happy to help you find your way. Design-on, friends!   

Email Marketing with MailerLite

In 2020, I took another leap to break up with my current email marketing program. 10 years ago when I started my business, I found Constant Contact and immediately became a part of their community. I sent them so much business they actually sent me marketing dollars to set up and pay for a booth at a local business event. 

When in discussions with them to do this, I  kept telling them it was harder and harder for me to stay with them because of the lack of technology.

Did you know, in order to make sure people don’t forget what they subscribed to, you need to land in their inbox within 5 minutes of them subscribing to your program! 
I wasn’t happy with the technology so I went searching for a program that I could recommend and use. That is when I found Mailchimp. I have been very happy with them for the past almost four years but at the end of 2019, I began working with many new startups (entrepreneurship is alive and well people). That is when I realized that the free version I was telling people to use to get started no longer had the same capabilities it once had (like multiple lists and scheduling). 

So again I started looking. I was referred to Mailerlite by someone I trust in the industry so I dove right in. I have slowly started converting clients over, conducted training on it, and started using it myself.

Some items I really like:

• Automation is simple to set up. It reminds me of workflows and can be tracked and added to easily
  

• They allow for multiple groups and segments to help really target your efforts to those subscribers that are more likely to support you. 
  

• The landing pages are easy to set up and great ways to warm up your audience to become customers faster 

If you are looking to start using email marketing. Looking for a better program or just a better way to promote your organization, I highly recommend Mailerlite!

Text Message Marketing with SlickText

There is a little-known fact about cell phone numbers that could be a game-changer for marketers!

Even before I started this business, I was researching Text Message Marketing programs for my previous job in Higher Education. I tell the story that Text Message Marketing was a part of my tipping point to make the move out of higher education. I was planning on attending a webinar to learn more about a text message program that we could start using to communicate with potential students. Yet, instead, my boss told me I needed to reprioritize and go to a skate party for homeschoolers and hand out pamphlets, so yes, that's when I hit my tipping point.

True Story.

It has been a slow build of text message marketing for my clients locally. There has been a series of setbacks. Pricing, people not wanting to give phone numbers, people not understanding the value of someone's cell phone number, cumbersome programs, lack of education on how it's done (I have to text each person individually?).....and so on and so on.

Until now….

Most recently, I have found a program after years (yes literally years) of looking for a program that would be a fit for any of my clients. Yes, I was looking for a unicorn. I would find one that was awesome for retail, but the cost was over what anyone would pay. Then I found one that would be great for another industry but wouldn't work for everyone. Then last year, I found

SlickText.

"The majority of people will keep the same phone number their entire life."

Read that again. Let that sink in. WOW. What an impact.

"One of those reasons is that almost everyone has a cellphone and keeps it within an arm's reach at any point throughout the day! 90% of all texts are also read within the first 5 minutes. If you stop and think about it, that's incredibly powerful all by itself.

SMS marketing is also permission-based. You're only communicating with a highly targeted group of people who really care about your business and what it has to say! It's also the fastest way to put coupons and special offers into the hands of your customers. With how cost-effective it is, it's pretty much a no brainer!" states Slicktext website.

So how are my clients using it?

• To announce sales

• Extended hours

• New products

• Text Message only Coupons

A good best practice is to collect phone numbers by telling them what to expect. One to two texts a month advertising a new product, change in hours, or sales just for text message subscribers. You can also post an opt-in code around your store (or online) to capture those potential customers!

I'm excited because I can give my readers 15% off your first month if they want to try Slicktext. If you use the code, WVSOCIALMEDIA.

Content Editing with Grammarly

One of my favorite programs I use that I like to say makes me feel smarter every day -  Grammarly! 

If you follow me on Instagram, you have seen that I love sharing the monthly updates on how many unique words I’ve used that week (1,959), how many corrections I have had to be alerted on (232), and how many total words were check (11,823). I guess I do write as much as I talk. 

It is not a big secret that my strength isn’t grammar and spelling, and I am okay with that. I haven’t let the “grammar police” of the world get me down because I know we all have strengths and weaknesses, and I tend to focus more on what I am good at doing than what I am not. (There’s a life lesson for you). 

I have always said that I need to hire someone to sit behind me as I type and correct my spelling and grammar, but you know getting someone to commit to that 24/7 was going to be a hire sell. 

I had first heard about Grammarly through some social media ads (good job Grammarly---you targeted correctly), and I thought I would give it a try. That was almost a year ago. 

How do I know I turned to Grammarly almost 52 weeks ago because they send these awesome weekly reports on how well you did for the week.

Honestly, I stick around for the weekly reports and the fact I don’t have to do anything extra to have them proof everything I write. These reports come via email with a catchy subject line, and my latest was, “You’re building a hefty vocabulary!” I am a sucker for a good compliment, so of course, I open that one up! 

Below is a week-over-week comparison… 

Things that I have noticed. I am correcting spelling and grammar mistakes before Grammarly is catching them because of the repeat usage of this program (I guess practice does work). 

I have recently downloaded Grammarly for my phone. I am not sure why I waited so long (I think I had it on my old phone, but storage was an issue, so I deleted it). I work so much on my phone that it is ideal for me. I like to turn it on while writing an email to make sure that my level of professionalism stays whether I am on the computer or the phone. 

.I mean this free program that automatically proofreads everything I type. The premium feature is entirely worth it, too as I work more in proposals and blog work for myself and clients it is helping me correct those more substantial issues that take you from an okay writer to one that someone would want to hire. 

If you are struggling with writing, which I feel like so many people do (myself included, and I am supposedly a good content marketer), you will want to check out Grammarly today!