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Brainstorming Sessions

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Early Morning January 10, 2013.

Every year we try to come up with new ideas to implement for our business and come up with new projects to help us create more connections with people who might have the same interests.

As a small business, instituting new projects or revisiting old ones and putting a different spin on them has helped us maintain our heads above water when the well has run dry. At the end of last year, Raul decided that we were going to do small brainstorming sessions after various small business people asked him for some advice about projects they wanted to get off the ground.

Brain Drain Game

Raul gets countless of calls from friends and acquaintances that want to do what we call brain drain; pick your brain for ideas, go forth with them, and never contact Raul or myself to know if they were successful.

After many years of playing the brain drain game, we decided to start creating sessions that would serve many purposes.

Disruptive Approach

One purpose would be to help individuals with an ongoing or new project that needed a creative or disruptive way of tackling the obstacles they were facing to get the project off the ground.

The Right Technology

A second purpose was to push entrepreneurs and small business owners to identify the right type of technology and platforms where they can connect with other like-minded individuals.

Getting the momentum going

Lastly, our goal is to also see these projects, through brainstorming sessions, come to fruition and have the small business owner state the success of the project.

Our First Sweet Session

Just recently a small business owner whose wife set up a cupcake, cake, and events company called, Dolce Maria’s Sweet Creations, approached Raúl for a Brainstorming session. We offered four brainstorming packages and they immediately scheduled a session the same week.

Once the session commenced, many ideas flowed between Raul and the client. As the session drew to a close, the clients appeared pleased with the key observations and recommendations offered.

The key objective was for the small business owner to see their value proposition in the services and product they are providing.

Creating a Road Map

To close off the small project we sent a roadmap in the form of a document covering:

–       Overall objectives

–       Accomplishments met within the session

–       Primary and Secondary next Steps

–       Online, Communications, and Business Recommendations

–       Assistance with Pricing Strategy

–       Recommended Reading

–       Tips on using Images on Instagram and Pinterest

We would love to help you make those small or big ideas in your head into successful projects and businesses. Contact us directly.

 

When not to use Groupon or other Discount Sites

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As a small business we are always trying to keep track of our expenses and save money for those days that might be extra rainy. As advisors to other small business owners, we are always providing cost effective methods for advertising to obtain new or returning clients.

Filling a Void for Slower Times of the Year

Our latest client, Fit911 Studio’s owner Andres Vazquez was looking to fill a void for those clients who go away on vacation during the holiday month of December. If you have ever frequented Puerto Rico during the holiday season, things don’t get back to normal until after January 6th .

We talked about several options with him and he brought up using Groupon to offer some packages for new clients. We were talking to another person who had used Groupon to sell some pastries and she explained how it was more costly than profitable. We relayed this information to Andres and we suggested using Facebook ads to obtain those new clients.

Facebook Ad and the Ultimate Payoff

He gave us the permission to create the ads, and ultimately he gained 15 clients; five more than he had hoped for during this slow period. Four options were offered to individuals looking to get a jump-start on their new year’s goals.

Our recommendations for this small business owner paid off and now the excellent staff at Fit911 Studio will train new clients.

Although the popular thing is to appear on sites that are promising potential clients up to 90% discount on your services, a small business must evaluate how profitable this will ultimately be for them.

So before you end up giving most of your profit to Groupon and the other discount clones, ask yourself these questions:

How much will Groupon and other discount sites take from your profit?

What other alternatives are there for advertising on the web along with your blog?

If you are having problems with coming up with a creative way to advertise your services, we can help you with a brainstorming session. In our next blog post, we will talk about how short sessions with CIMA IT Solutions Corp. can be a positive outcome for current and future projects.

 

If your interested in finding out how to kick start any new effort or project drop us a line or two and we can gladly advance you that info via email.

 

 

Shape up your business for 2012!

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It is a new year and during this month we know that many people will be making resolutions to lose weight, eat healthier, become organized, and enhance their personal lives in all sorts of positive ways.

Resolutions?

What resolutions will you make for your small to medium sized business or organizations for this New Year?

Every business should have a need to re-organize and re-structure for the new year.  Setting company goals for individuals who help run your business is something that should always be done but more importantly to provide focus to those employees on what you expect of them in the coming year.

As a previous employee for companies like Perkin Elmer LLC and Pitney Bowes we had our performance reviews.  In the case of Perkin Elmer, we actually wrote down what we wanted to learn and achieve for the coming months and years. It was up to us in being proactive with our short-term and long-term business goals. Proactive employees means successful projects for the upcoming year translating into a healthier business environment.

Shape Up Your Business

How do small and medium sized companies help shape their business? 

If you still don’t have a website, or feel the one you have is not living up to your audience’s expectations, make sure you get one made by professionals you can trust. The team and I are ready to help small and medium sized companies with enhancing their web presence by starting with a current state assessment of where your business is and how they are using the internet to market services.

Another way you can shape up the company is by looking at your current marketing strategies. If your company needs help with marketing strategies we can provide detailed recommendations and observations of what is being done well or even better yet  identifying areas that need enhancements to meet current business goals and assure the best quality services.

Consulting with our team regarding the content of your website can also help you reach new clients and also put the spotlight on your management and resources while highlighting their expertise and how they can help new and returning clients.

As I have stated before, attracting clients with quality content is important and when it comes directly from your organization it shows that they you are committed towards creating better relationships with your clients and audience.

How has your company started shaping up for this year? How are you involving your resources (employees, management, and staff) to meet those goals?

Photo Credit by by eclipseGrafx

 

 

 

 

Websites not just your home for the holidays

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As the holidays approach us we see many people creating content about celebrating Christmas, Chanukah, Kwanzaa, Christmas Giveaways, and Christmas Cookie Recipe Bake-offs. Everyone wants to create a list of the Top 10, Top 50, Top 100 blogs, websites, and influential people of the year to drive those people mentioned to the source that names them. What better way to get people to visit your website than mentioning them as the best at a specific genre?

Where are you  announcing your events or latest news? What about your holiday party that your company or organization will be hosting as you invite your community of readers and members to join you?

I see many folks using social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, and Google + to make sure everyone reads their holiday experiences. But these networks shouldn’t be your main source of imparting information to your clients or community members. What would happen if these social networks all of a sudden stopped working? How are you going to get information to your readers if you are solely making social networks your home?

Networks and Platforms Should Complement Your Website

Your company needs to make sure that these networks compliment your website which should be your home everyday and not just for the holidays. What we do for our customers at CIMA is create a website that you can call your home.

A Place Where People Can Find You

When customers look for your company or organization, they are going to see if there is a website first. These days one of the first questions we ask people we encounter who state they are a small to medium sized business or organization is the name of their website. It amazes me how many companies don’t have a permanent home where customers can learn more about their product and services.

If you are a small to medium sized business, you need to make sure you have a website to let people know that your brand exists. We also see the other side where small to medium sized companies have a website but it is deadspace or looks outdated. Information has not been updated and the commitment to create content just isn’t there. At CIMA we have created content for our customers. But who knows your business better than you?

One of our clients, RomyBaez.com, sells car insurance, life insurance, and business insurance along with other types of insurance. In his latest blog post, he writes about the importance of having vital insurance information before you purchase a car. The website was made for those looking for all types of insurances in Puerto Rico, created with content in Spanish, and is his homebase for returning and new clients. As a small business, Romy was conscious of having a website where his potential clients could contact him for a quote. Can you upload important documents for your clients to download on Twitter? I have not seen that feature at all.

Although it is great to use social networks to update information about what your company or organization will be doing for the holidays, don’t forget that a website created by our team will celebrate with you everyday of the year.

 

Attracting Clients via Quality Content

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A question was posed in one of the groups that I participate in on-line; “How do you measure online influence?” to which I replied that tools such as Klout do not influence me. What will influence me to visit a person’s or company’ website is the content that is relevant to me.

We have all heard the adage that “Content is King” and this is relevant as small and large business delve into social platforms or decide to create a website. The content that is published on a website or posted on a social platform has to be captivating for me to read or research. Sometimes the titles of certain posts can be misleading and when I read the content, I feel that I have wasted my time. At this time in my life I am a new mom. Content shared on social platforms about nursing, toy recalls, or parenting tips is going to be of interest to me. This may lead me into forwarding the information to other new parents and I might even leave a comment on the company or person’s site.

When researching content for our clients such as the Puerto Rican Parade of Fairfield County, news, history, events, or facts about Puerto Rico posted in a twitter feed, will pique my curiosity and I will read the content to see how relevant it is for their community to read.

How does one post quality content to capture the attention of a new client and keep the old ones coming back?

Relevancy: It has to be relevant to a group of people that may have vast interests with one goal in mind at the moment you post information on a twitter feed or Facebook page. Food always draws the attention of many folks with a wide variety of tastes. Our client Archipielago has a menu for those who are looking for an entrée that is meat, fish, or vegetarian based.

Resolve an Issue: The content in a website has to also resolve an issue. Our friends at TropicalBloomPR wrote an article about how to keep your pets away from eating plants or digging up a garden. They provided an eco-friendly and harmless solution to persuade your pets to play somewhere else.

Sparks Debate: The ideas you convey in an article are not going to strike a chord with certain people. There are going to be people that agree with what you write and others that will have a totally different opinion. If you can spark a healthy debate without insults, then you know that the content you have written is being talked about. On RaulColon.net, Raul wrote about how Fragile the iPad2 is and the incident that occurred when his fell on the ground and the screen cracked. Some people were sympathetic to what happened, while others who are not Apple fans gave their opinions about his mistake in buying such an expensive item.

Shared with others: Once the person feels that the content has solved their issue and is relevant to them, they will have the urge to share it with others. I wrote a post about going Vegetarian during Lenten Season on VegLatino.com. I knew that the title, content, and suggestions written about was going to be forwarded to those who are Catholic, Vegetarian, and people looking for a solution to the issue of preparing a meatless meal on Fridays. I had quite a few comments on Facebook about the article and it was even shared on another site called The News Taco.

Quality content on your website might be relevant to one person and might not be for someone else. Always keep in mind how you will fulfill your client’s basic needs and how you will attract new ones.

What is your interpretation of quality content?

What factors draw you to comment on a post where the content has been relevant to your specific needs?

photo credit by ragnar1984