Communication is Key, Share the Burden, Recognize the New Normal, Start Planning for the Worst, Now, Avoid the Worst, Ensuring Leads, Content Creation, ”Attending” Events Online, LinkedIn Networking, Kennected Helping
Few managers and business owners can truly say that they were ready for the changes that Novel Coronavirus, more accurately called Covid-19, would bring to their operations. Almost overnight, companies have been forced to start operations focused on ‘social distancing,’ Social distancing involves sacrificing many of the activities that once were crucial to business, like sharing coffee, meals, or time on the golf course, as well as more mundane tasks like meetings and interviews. All of this stress is multiplied for those who are in charge of making sure that business continues as usual; after all, few of us want our employees idle right now, and even fewer would prefer to see wages cut or layoffs commence. However, there are a few techniques that can help make sure that not only your employees stay productive, but that they also are secure in that their livelihoods are secure, with plenty of new leads coming in for your business. Communication is KeyBecause of this, communication is absolutely key. Typically, a manager may only have a meeting a few times a week. However, during this time, touching base every day may be a solution to provide some sense of continuity while also providing structure to your employees’ days. We have read of some engaged companies doing a quick check-in conference call early in the day, as well as one later. That provides a sense of accountability for all involved, while also helping to remind everyone that there is still work to be done. If possible, remain upbeat, but honest, during this time. Your employees will have difficult answers; “I don’t know” is only an acceptable solution if followed by, “But I will try to find out.” As much as possible, help people to focus on their jobs, not if their paychecks will be threatened. Share the BurdenDuring this time, your employees may have unexpected difficulties. Some will have limited bandwidth, while others may have difficulties coping. Being there to share the burden will be an incredible help to those who work for you. A number of small business owners have cut back their hours, but still share them equally among their employees. Others have guaranteed at least so much work during the period. Hopefully your business will not be in the position to make sure decisions. However, recognizing that you, as the manager or the business owner, may have to take a more hands-on approach through it all will be well received by your employees as long as it is to genuinely help, not to micromanage. Ask questions. Make them feel as they are guiding you, and if you are doing more harm than good, create an atmosphere where they feel comfortable to let you get out of the way. Recognize the New NormalUnfortunately, there are indications that this may well be the new normal for at least the next six months, if not considerably longer. Your employees will have to take time to help their kids, or spouses, or parents, and no matter what the reason, a good manager will give them all the time that they need. Remember, recruitment during coronavirus would be a nightmare. Also, bear in mind that the average American office worker does only around 3 hours of work a given day, with the rest of it taken up by meetings, office events, and socializing with colleagues. As long as that standard is being met, then you really don’t have much to worry about. Start Planning for the Worst, NowFinally, businesses should start planning for the worst. There could well be a slowdown that even best efforts could not forestall. In that case, start talking to banks and lenders now about loans, lines of credit, and other ways to make sure that your employees are taken care of during the crisis. With the government offering tax credits to managers who pay their employees during any shut down, there is a way to get this back, and banks know this. However, your employees may not have access to the types of credit that you do. Doing this, while a scary thought, is the ultimate backstop, and demonstrates a great deal of loyalty to your employees. Remember, employees don’t leave bad jobs, they leave bad managers; doing this can help prevent anyone from jumping ship during later crises. Avoid the WorstThat said, there are plenty of things that can be done to avoid such a worst case scenario. By far the best way is to make sure that your business has plenty of inbound leads. Ensuring LeadsAs a manager or owner, the simple best thing that you can do to help your employees during a time like this is to make sure that there are plenty of inbound leads to keep everyone busy. Doing so not only removes a number of the burning questions about job stability, but it also helps to create a sense of normalcy that many of your employees will be lacking. Luckily, you’ll have plenty of time to do so. Content CreationWith the move to online operations, creating content will be a top priority. Write blog posts. Put things on social media. Consider learning basic video editing skills, or perhaps hire a freelancer; trust us, your work will be top priority for them during this time. Putting out more information about your business, and how you are helping clients cope through the pandemic will get noticed. After all, there are more eyes online now than ever before. ”Attending” Events OnlineChances are that before you were a timid participant in webinars and other events online, but now is the time to become engaged. Many companies and groups are hosting these events, and it is a great way to meet people. Chances are that even your college alumni group is offering such opportunities. Take advantage of them and find a way to help other businesses out.Social Media Presence With all those new pieces of content and new contacts from events online, now is a great time to grow your social media presence. Use tools like IFTTT to optimize posts across platforms, so that something posted on Instagram appears on Twitter and Facebook. Like and comment on other people’s content as well; after all, when you’re looking to make an introduction, being able to be a name that they have seen before will be helpful. LinkedIn NetworkingNo platform will likely be as useful for your efforts in this matter than LinkedIn. LinkedIn lets you find people in any career field, connect with them, and begin finding ways to help both of you do business better. An abundance of groups, with free messaging between members, lets you build connections. Also, the sheer number of groups is impressive; from college alumni associations to regional trade groups, there are no shortage of ways to find new people who you can help. Even if you don’t have access to such groups, you can still use LinkedIn to make a difference. Start by focusing on your geographic area as well as complimentary lines of business; if you are an investment management firm, build relationships with accountants, lawyers, and even college prep counselors. Even if they are not likely to become clients themselves, they can help point people in your direction. Crucial to this is making sure that you are giving as much as you are taking. Helping to be the nexus from which a number of connections are made will help make sure that you and your company are the first thought of when a need arises that your firm is able to solve. Kennected HelpingAll of this can be quite time-consuming, but is a crucial way to build your business. If you’re worried about reaching out to people on LinkedIn taking up too much time, look into Kennected. We offer a variety of ways to help companies best leverage LinkedIn in order to help them build the sort of relationships that produce leads. By taking into account your needs in clients and the services you offer, we help you best scale your LinkedIn efforts in order to reach as many people as possible. In short, just like a good manager, we remove the burden so that you can focus on doing what you do best; helping your employees succeed. If you’re ready to learn more, contact us today – Kennected stands ready to help your small business guarantee a supply of leads through the Covid-19 Pandemic and beyond. The post How to Social Distance Like A Boss? appeared first on Kennected|The Best LinkedIn Automation Tool For Generating Leads. from https://kennected.org/social-distance/
0 Comments
Narrow Down the Audience, Correspond with Leads, Keep in Contact, Utilize Industry Technology
Every small business owner is waking up to a new normal as it relates to their operations. We understand that there is a lot of uncertainty out there. It’s becoming increasingly obvious that since the Coronavirus Pandemic, business plans and models have to change. This is true in how they function on a daily basis and their planning for the future. According to ABC News, many small business owners are seeking new ways to conduct their business operations. These are businesses that sell both products and services to the public in states across the country. Adjusting the way that work is done is extremely important to this process. In some cases, brick-and-mortar entities will need to move to online options. Even online businesses are being impacted by the Coronavirus, and have to alter operating strategies. Small businesses whose customers primarily came to physical locations are now challenged with a decrease in traffic. Rethinking business involves finding creative ways to sell what it is that a business offers to the public. Online businesses that collaborate with vendors for deliveries and other services also need to better organize business models. We are experts when it comes to simplifying lead generation and connecting businesses with customers and clients. Our Kennected.org’s LinkedIn automation tools can be effective in growing your small business. This process alone is a solution that can save both time and resources. Instead of purchasing large ad buys, small businesses that use our tools have alternatives to meet their goals. Let’s take a look at the benefits that come from leveraging low-cost strategies to generate more leads for diverse small businesses. Narrow Down the AudienceIt doesn’t matter if a small business operates online or never has before. We provide resources that can improve the online experience. One of the most important parts of this process is to actually narrow down who the audience happens to be. This means focusing on who will likely want and buy products and services. The LinkedIn platform is a wealth of information that enhances this process and can improve business. Correspond with LeadsWith our experience in this field, we assist our clients with defining their audience and maximizing their leads. An effective and productive way to achieve this goal is to correspond with leads but in the right way. Personalized messages that correspond to leads are sent through invitations may seem to be a simple approach. These happen to be some of the best ways to reach existing customers and potential new customers, as well. Keep in ContactJust as maintaining traditional business relationships, it is critical for small business owners to maintain online business relationships. Keeping in contact with a client is a way to establish brands, as well as, to remind them what the business provides. Scheduling a follow-up message to those in contact lists is very important. Business owners sometimes use these to announce sales and special opportunities. Utilize Industry TechnologyLinkedIn is definitely one of the most popular platforms for generating leads for small business owners. Although it doubles as an online portal for networking, this is a fruitful location to attract customers and clients to business services. We utilize technology to sync platform profiles to both nurture and manage acquired leads. Our processes also work to log messages that can also be beneficial to this generation. When things occur in society that is outside of the control of business owners, making adjustments is necessary. Not having the knowledge or resources to do this effectively is a problem. This is why we focus on providing each of our clients with the services that they need to rethink their business models. Small business can benefit from maximizing their contacts and learning how to generate more leads. Market Watch reports that small businesses around the country may be eligible for $300B in relief due to the Coronavirus Relief Plan. These funds will be helpful when it comes to redesigning business models, as well as, running marketing campaigns. Our Kennected.org’s LinkedIn automation tools can be used to reimagine business objectives and to begin again. The post Coronavirus Forces Small Businesses to Rethink Strategies appeared first on Kennected|The Best LinkedIn Automation Tool For Generating Leads. from https://kennected.org/businesses-rethink-strategies/
New prospects are out there, even during precarious times, Current and future campaigns at your fingertips, You’re in constant contact with current and potential leads, Automation leads to rapid connection, Individual requests and responses are what set you apart from the other, Personalization is possible using automation, Join us at Kennected.org and let us bring the future to you right now
When we discuss online automation, there are still some hold outs in the business world. They wonder if automated systems really have a chance of expanding their companies. Up until this time, having an entire office filled with employees seemed to do the job well. However current times have changed not only the perception of automated systems but how they can regularly manage and advance data. Now entire corporations (of every size and valuation) are working digitally due to worldwide Corona-Virus pandemic “Safe at Home” recommendations. In addition, they are eager to contact and hire remote colleagues all over the world. New prospects are out there, even during precarious timesFinding new prospects and building new relationships is just a click away. Kennected.org features seamless integration using our interface between LinkedIn and Hubspot for updating data fields. Our integration outreach with Anymailfinder, Hunter.io and FindThatLead lets you discover new prospects from a variable plethora of available leads. Once you’ve found these potential clients, we’re here to help lead them directly your way on a 24/7 basis. Here at Kennected.org, we have your back. Our platform allows you to reach out to new prospects, which allows you to maintain your digital distance. We additionally provide the security to choose who you wish to contact and avoid over saturating your contact list with inquiries. Better yet we work with the most active business sites which continually attract a global slate of talent in every possible direction. Current and future campaigns at your fingertipsWhile other companies are floundering, you have an excellent chance to benefit from their confusion and lack of involvement. Now is the time to use Kennected to line up those prospects you never thought you could reach. This doesn’t mean that your competitors won’t enter the fray, however their current disarray is your time to shine. Our platform offers your in-company network many more ways to adroitly manage ongoing campaigns. As well, easily make changes and add new marketing incentives to current campaigns. Looking to new markets, create new campaigns and present them to prospective clients when your competitors are at home taking a traditional “wait and see” approach. You’re in constant contact with current and potential leadsOnce you’ve used Kennected to reach out to new leads, all you have to do is sit back and gather your responses. Using our platform, checking responses is easy and at your control. Simply use our Responses tab to check accumulated response data and profiles of targeted leads. As needed delete users that don’t fit your criteria or access past conversations from them to contact them once again. Automation leads to rapid connectionOur Kennected Dashboard gives you all the tools you need to track each of your digital outreaches. As you manage your campaign, the data we provide is essential to knowing who’s who and how exactly to reach them. With added insights before you, the decision making process is smoother and involves far less of a gamble of your resources. Every inch of the way, your Kennected account lets you contact prospect sales clients as you proceed. Our platform is the place to work with Sales Navigator to design and reconfigure sequences of your business campaign along the way. Take action when you need to, whether it be immediately or at a pre-planned moment to bring forth new ideas. Individual requests and responses are what set you apart from the othersNothing looks or feels more impersonal than a mass mailing. Prospective leads and current clients never like to feel that they are merely a “number” in a mass mailing. With Kennected on board, you’ll never let your leads fall into that nameless, faceless abyss. Our automated platform lets you contact and proceed to follow up with leads. They will receive requests and responses that appear as if you had sent them each individually. Your leads will think you’ve taken the time to send them manually, because our automated system was developed with a creative approach. Just as if you were responding to requests manually, you can use Kennected to pre-set the number of days in which you’d like our automated platform to follow up with your lead candidates. Once? Twice? After one day or once a day for ten days, it is entirely up to you. The decision is yours and we give you the tools to design your unique strategy. Using automation, our platform immediately detects when you’ve received a response. So follow up messages are stopped, making sure your leads are neither overwhelmed by your presence or downright annoyed by your insistence. Personalization is possible using automationOur Kennected platform allows you to contact prospects on a personalized basis, building with auto-managed sequences. These give you the advantage in building rapport with sales leads, as they have every right to assume that you are manually sending out that personalized response. Meanwhile, Kennected gives you the ability to send out as many as one hundred of these personalized responses, giving you a leg up on the competition. Join us at Kennected.org and let us bring the future to you right nowThe future is here and we’re here to make it happen. All you have to do is sign up to get ideas and access to our platform. Get started right now by signing up at Kennected.org. We’ve got our expert team at the ready to give you a demo of our automated systems. And especially during the trying times of our current Corona Virus pandemic, we’re here to listen to you and work to raise you up above the competition higher than you ever thought possible. The post Corona Virus Pandemic- Make Your Net, Work appeared first on Kennected|The Best LinkedIn Automation Tool For Generating Leads. from https://kennected.org/corona-virus-pandemic/ What Is LinkedIn Sales Navigator?LinkedIn Sales Navigator: These Are The Five Things Every Enterprise Level Customer Needs To Know: LinkedIn is a very valuable social network for businesses, professionals, and especially B2B sales reps. While Twitter and Facebook hold a lot of value when it comes to social selling, many organizations still gravitate towards LinkedIn because it is designed for the purpose of building connections between professionals. LinkedIn recognizes this advantage and has taken many steps to maintain this reputation. Its Sales Navigator feature is another bid to secure its spot as the top social networking platform for B2B marketing. It was made to empower sales professionals and help them establish relationships with customers and prospects. “Tapping into the power of our network of 313 million members, and the data that underlies it, we make it easy for sales professionals to stay updated about key accounts, focus on the right people, and build trusted relationships along the way,” said Mike Derezin, Vice President of Sales Solutions at LinkedIn. Here are a few important things users should know about the LinkedIn Sales Navigator. LinkedIn Sales Navigator is Now a Standalone ProductLinkedIn’s newer Navigator feature has its own separate login, which provides a more standalone social selling experience. It also reduces the need for a lot of manual searches from the previous version. Before this standalone product, LinkedIn already offered a Sales Navigator that sales reps could access via their normal LinkedIn accounts. The new version makes it significantly more convenient. LinkedIn Sales Navigator Provides RecommendationsAs a new standalone product, LinkedIn Sales Navigator now has recommendations as part of its package. Lead recommendations are among the new features made available. The Navigator recommends lead contacts based on past history and then sends updates on decision-makers that work with those contacts. This helps users ensure that they are connected with the right people. LinkedIn Sales Navigator Allows Users to Filter UpdatesSimilar to the normal LinkedIn news feed, the Navigator product has a home page that presents updates from contacts and accounts in the user’s network. But some of these updates may not be relevant to the user’s interests or business, so there is an option to filter these quickly and reliably. The LinkedIn Sales Navigator’s filter feature can sort by company updates, content, and general contact updates such as work anniversaries or role changes. This helps narrow the user’s focus and allows them to more easily stay in touch with their contacts. LinkedIn Sales Navigator is a Premium OfferingThe Sales Navigator is not free, although LinkedIn membership still is. Pricing for teams is set on a per-seat basis, while pricing for individuals begins with a 30-day free trial, followed by $79.99 per month. There is also an option to purchase annually at an additional discount. LinkedIn Sales Navigator offers Options for Premium ProfilesWhile the product is not free, it offers many significant benefits for B2B marketers. For example, the LinkedIn Sales Navigator provides premium profile options such as larger headshots and background images in addition to other improvements. This helps users create a better first impression, which could go a long way in building relationships and forming connections on LinkedIn. If you are looking for a way to automate your LinkedIn lead generation, consider Kennected. Check out our testimonials. The post LinkedIn Sales Navigator & Pricing- What You Need To Know appeared first on Kennected|The Best LinkedIn Automation Tool For Generating Leads. from https://kennected.org/linkedin-sales-navigator/ Doctors, lawyers, and dozens of other professionals are facing a major issue with Coronavirus (a.k.a., COVID-19). Here they have dozens of clients, patients, etc., who all need to be seen, and cannot be admitted or briefed because of the shutdown nationwide. If you are a professional who relies on face-to-face meetings with your consumers/clients/patients, then you are experiencing this very difficult problem too. However, you also live in an age where technology allows you to do much more than any other time period in history. Thirty years ago it would not have been possible to ask a doctor if you had strep without actually visiting the doctor. It would not have been possible to conference-call a dozen people and have everyone in the meeting at the same time without being physically present. If you had to cancel a very important business trip, you are not alone. Yet you are also not without dozens of pieces of technology that will allow you to carry on with your meeting all the same. The following are some examples on how you can continue business as usual, even if you have to remain at home for months until Corona virus wears itself out. Smartphone Video ChatsIf you and the clients or potential business partners all have smartphones with video chat, you might be able to conduct your meeting anyway. Agree on a time and date, and then arrange for one party to call the other. If you have to conference in a third party, that is possible with some smartphones. However, some video chat features are not compatible with other smartphones manufactured by a different company, nor can they conference in several parties at once. Amazon Echo and Amazon ChimeAmazon Echo video calls using the Echo video screen is one new way that people are communicating via a larger video chat screen. The unique feature of this device allows the screen to track your movements and follow you around a room if you need to get up and move to find something for your clients/patients/etc.. Echo video calls can only handle one-to-one video calls, and only if the other person has an Amazon Echo video screen too. Amazon Chime is a little different. It still requires that you have a business membership with Amazon, but you can use the Chime app to communicate and video conference with several parties simultaneously and choose how you want to communicate. The app works best on Amazon devices, but as long as everyone has a computer or laptop, it can work. A free trial is given, but you will be charged a monthly rate after the trial is over. SkypeSkype has been the tried and true means of video teleconferencing for a couple of decades now. Even if the people with whom you are supposed to meet cannot make the video part of the Skype work on their computers, you can still call them and talk at length over the Skype telephone line. Skype also allows you to silence or mute your end of the meeting if you need to discuss something with someone else in the room on your end of the call. If you have never used or signed up for Skype before, you will be happy to know that Skype offers some sign-up credits to use on video calls. The downside to using Skype is that not everyone is open to using it, and not everyone in every country can access this program. You may need to contact Skype directly to see where their services are currently available and then instruct your business meeting partners on how to use this communication application on their end. ZoomZoom is a lot like Skype, except that it operates on a Cloud platform. This allows you to use Zoom on all computing devices, including tablets and phones that do not have their own video chat applications. Currently, Zoom is being used for everything from video conferencing to webinars to classroom instruction for teachers and students who are not allowed to attend public and private schools because of the pandemic. The best part is that Zoom will give you a free trial, and you can choose from four pricing packages. The minimal meeting package is free, which accommodates small business meetings similar to the ones you might have had on your business trip. If you need to conference in many more participants, sign up for one of the upper-tier plans that are still reasonable and affordable. (We recommend the free package unless you need to conference in several parties from several locations simultaneously and intend to have multiple more “virtual business trips” in the next couple of months.) UberConferencePerhaps one of the best options out there right now is UberConference. It is also a Cloud-based communications service that provides both conferencing calls and video conferencing calls. The thing that makes it especially appealing during the Corona virus pandemic is the fact that UberConference’s parent company, Switch Communications, has temporarily changed its operating policies for UberConference, allowing you to call up to fifty business meeting participants at once, and giving you much longer call duration to suit your needs. It is their gift to companies and businesses that are suffering because of the pandemic. If, however, you need to conference in more than fifty people, you do not want to bother with PINs to connect, and/or you expect that the virus will impact your business for much longer than two months, you can sign up for the only other package provided at $15/month. (The 50-participant package is free, and an excellent deal considering that it usually only allows you to conference in ten people at a time.) The current promotion on the freebie package ends when people are allowed to return to work, and it does not allow international communications, so that is also something to consider prior to choosing a package of services with UberConference. Konnected.orgFinally, we would be remiss if we did not mention this little gem of conferencing services. Kennected connects through LinkedIn, an employment and information/social media site for individuals and businesses alike. Using an existing interface that thousands of companies and businesses already use every day alleviates you of the needs to find platform support, and any issues with its use are referred back to a third party to correct, not to you the user. There are various pricing packages available, depending on your business’s needs. Along with being able to send invites to meetings and conferences, you are able to see who has received and read what you sent. You can see when they have RSVP’d, and read their return messages. When you host the video conference, everyone who has Kennected connects to you but can also see and hear everyone else at the meeting. Being able to use one or more of the above services definitely helps you get through the current economic storm because you can still meet, discuss plans, delegate tasks, and conduct most of your business safely from your home or home office. The post Had To Cancel Your Business Trip Due To Corona Virus? appeared first on Kennected|The Best LinkedIn Automation Tool For Generating Leads. from https://kennected.org/had-to-cancel-your-business-trip-due-to-corona-virus/
Order Online, Order Take Out, Keep Paying Your Service Workers, Leave Good Reviews, Tip Generously, Hire Teachers, Tutors and Instructors, Tackle Home Improvement Projects, Ask for Remote Services
The Coronavirus pandemic has drastically altered the lives of almost everyone in the country, but small business is being particularly decimated. Mandatory lockdowns, social distancing, and overall panic mean that some small businesses have seen their sales drop by as much as 90 percent. There are ways that you can help your local small business during this crisis so that they can still operate after this is over. Order OnlineIf your favorite small business sells online, you can support them by placing your orders through the Web. This works well for small retailers, who often depend on their Web sales to support their brick and mortar operations. Ordering online not only means that you can still enjoy the products you love, but the business can retain some of its employees to pack and ship orders. Buying gift cards that you can use to shop later is also helpful. Many stores are offering discounted gift cards as a way to keep people shopping during this pandemic. Buying a gift card is an excellent way to both shop now and later. Order Take OutRestaurants are especially vulnerable during this crisis. People started avoiding restaurants when the first Coronavirus cases started appearing in the country. Now with mandatory restrictions on dine-in restaurants, many businesses depend solely on take out orders to stay in operation. Some restaurants which are forced to close are selling off the perishable food items that they will no longer be able to sell to the public. Contact your local restaurants and find out if they are offering take-out and delivery, or offer to buy their unused perishables. Keep Paying Your Service WorkersIf you have a regular house cleaner, dog walker, babysitter or maintenance person, consider paying them a portion of what you normally pay them during the pandemic. Some people are paying a regular salary with the expectation that the workers will make up the work when the pandemic is over. If you know of someone who could still use their services during the outbreak, refer them. This is the time to help keep these service people working so that they will still be able to operate when this is over. Leave Good ReviewsMost people who patronize a business never leave a review, good or bad. This is the time to start leaving good reviews for your favorite businesses. Flood their social media pages with positive messages and in-depth reviews of their products and services. Not only will you be helping their sales, but you will also be boosting their morale at a bleak time for many small businesses. Tip GenerouslyWith the majority of Americans confined to their homes, there is an influx of demand for food delivery. These delivery drivers are especially at risk for contracting the virus due to their daily interactions with a range of people. They operate on thin margins as the delivery apps often take a portion of their revenue as fees. Tip them generously to help them during this time. If you do order food, make sure you are available when they arrive so they don’t have to spend additional time at your home waiting to hand you your food. Consider allowing them to leave the food on the porch instead of interacting with you directly. This protects both you and the delivery person. Hire Teachers, Tutors and InstructorsSchools are closed and that means that someone has to deliver lessons to the millions of school children who can’t attend class in-person. This is the time to hire local tutors and independent teachers who can deliver lessons and help with challenging subjects. In addition, there are local fitness clubs that are offering virtual classes and workouts. Fitness centers were particularly hard hit, as social distancing and germ avoidance is challenging in this environment. Tackle Home Improvement ProjectsThis is the time to start working on the lawn, fixing things around the house and getting your car back in working order. Your landscaper doesn’t need close interaction with you to cut the grass, and the handyman can work on outside projects. There are mobile mechanics who will come to you, so take advantage of these services and support small business owners who might otherwise be out of work. Ask for Remote ServicesYour tax accountant, financial planner, attorney and insurance salesperson may all work remotely. Ask them if they can still provide the same services from their homes. This is the time to start reviewing your estate plans, wills and financial plans. These small, independent businesses are especially vulnerable so talk to them about how you can support them during this time. Small businesses are taking a huge hit in the wake of this unprecedented virus. Many will close their doors, never to re-open. Support your favorite small business by buying online, shopping locally and helping them to stay open for the long haul. The post How to Help your Favorite Small Businesses Survive the Coronavirus Crisis appeared first on Kennected|The Best LinkedIn Automation Tool For Generating Leads. from https://kennected.org/how-small-businesses-can-survive-the-covid19-crisis/
Staying competitive and not following the trend, Offer more service and provide more value, Growing your business revenue through automation, Using the right resources to stay connected, Increasing online traffic
With the recent pandemic caused by the coronavirus, many people continue to panic and businesses are finding themselves struggling to stay afloat. Even though we are in a modern-day crisis of historical proportions, it is important now more than ever to maintain competitiveness in the marketplace. While most business owners find themselves having to temporarily shut their doors for business, there are other business owners who are utilizing this as a unique opportunity to increase their customer base. It is in critical times like this when new businesses emerge and existing businesses find a way to adjust to what many are referring to as the new normal. Just because we’re faced with a crisis, doesn’t mean companies have to go out of business. The most savvy business owners are finding a way to reinvent themselves and their business processes. In this strategic attempt to remain competitive, businesses are turning to alternative means to survive. Staying competitive and not following the trendThe common approach to business is to follow the pack. When other businesses are shutting their doors and going out of business, it may be enticing to some business owners to follow suit. For business owners who are more savvy and who recognize how opportunities are created, following the pack does not ensure success. As a matter of fact, making the decision to go out of business while other companies are going out of business further perpetuates the cycle of failure. The most successful businesses find a way to go into business while other companies are closing their doors. During uncertain times such as these, there are huge opportunities that are created for business owners who dare to take risks. Companies that have the financial capacity to do so should consider increasing their marketing efforts as opposed to following the pack and pulling back their marketing efforts. Offer more service and provide more valueIn keeping in line with the marketing strategy, businesses can find tremendous success during uncertain times by offering more to consumers and creating better value for them. Typically in a normal business market, value is created when businesses are able to provide more value in relation to their competitors. With companies continually closing their doors during this time, the competition is fastly dwindling. Because of this, a variety of opportunities are created for businesses that can withstand during difficult times. Often, a reduction in competition leads to consumer price gouging. To ensure the longevity of your business, it is imperative to create a win-win situation for consumers by pricing products and services competitively. In doing so, you’re able to establish a solid customer base and grow business revenue during an extremely difficult time. Growing your business revenue through automationThe use of automation for your business is an excellent way to provide a better customer experience for consumers. Unfortunately, there are companies who have not capitalized on the opportunity to automate some or all of their business practices. As a result, these companies have been impacted significantly during the coronavirus shut down. Companies who have continually recognized the value in automation have been able to make adjustments much easier than their counterparts. Because of this, companies are able to put themselves in a better position to maintain and even grow their business revenue. Automation is a cost-effective solution for businesses to handle customer service related issues, sales tracking and order processing. It is also an excellent way to generate more business through lead generation and sales conversions. Companies are finding a way to implement automation into business practices to maintain and increase their customer base. Automation is an excellent tool and helps businesses stay in line with the temporary mandate for social distancing. It ensures that businesses are able to continually engage with their customers while keeping employees and their customers safe. By implementing automated practices, businesses are not only able to grow their business revenue, but they’re also able to analyze their performance to ensure they’re meeting the customer’s demand. Lead generation is an excellent way to put your business growth on autopilot. Companies such as Kennected provide lead generation services in an easy-to-use software which allows you to use automation to increase your business. This automated system helps businesses define their target audience and provide lead management for prospective customers. Businesses are able to effectively communicate with customers utilizing the smart prospecting feature. This automated system initiates contact and provides automated follow up as a way to keep in touch with customers. This system ensures businesses are connecting to the right prospects and makes marketing efforts more targeted and relevant. Kennected makes warm prospecting an easy task for businesses that are looking to spend their time elsewhere. Using the right resources to stay connectedUtilizing the right resources to automate business and customer interaction is essential to building and growing a company’s revenue. Kennected’s integration feature allows businesses to find emails within the LinkedIn platform that are pushed directly into the business’s customer relationship management (CRM) tool. This gives businesses a multitude of options to use this information for customer retention, driving sales and improving customer relationships. These types of resources provide better insight for businesses to better gauge customers’ buying preferences, any customer concerns and purchasing history. This is a way to provide the best value and customer experience. It is also an ideal way for businesses to maintain a competitive edge over existing competition. Increasing online trafficIn order to grow revenue, it is essential to have a continual flow of business in your pipeline. Kennected’s lead generation system allows businesses to connect to the right customer base. By connecting to the correct customer base, businesses are able to more accurately fulfill the needs of their customers. With the automated lead generation system, businesses are able to reach out to more customers and provide better services by utilizing automated systems that track customer behavior and patterns. The system allows businesses to scale up their operations without becoming overwhelmed. Their automated system is an excellent way to increase a business’s pipeline, which ultimately grows the business’s revenue. With this system, businesses are able to engage more prospects using ethical marketing methods to expand their potential customer base. By analyzing consumer behavior, businesses are able to gauge which products or services customers are most interested in. This automated system allows them to accurately track sales results which gives companies more insight on how to appropriately market to existing customers and scale-up for new customers. With the dynamics in business fastly changing, it is imperative that businesses find new ways to remain competitive in the marketplace. While many companies choose to retreat during this tumultuous time, this creates opportunities for businesses that choose to forge ahead. For companies that choose to continue to grow their business in this new environment, the competition can be nonexistent. Consumers will still be looking for businesses that provide products and services to meet their needs. Just because we are in a pandemic doesn’t mean consumers will stop living and carrying on with everyday tasks. Consumers are finding different ways to move forward. As such, it is important for businesses to do the same. The post Is it Possible To Grow Your Business Revenue During the Corona Shutdown? appeared first on Kennected|The Best LinkedIn Automation Tool For Generating Leads. from https://kennected.org/is-it-possible-to-grow-your-business-revenue-during-the-corona-shutdown/
Do Not Panic, Manage Your Team, Connect with Your Audience, Gather Resources, Utilize Technology
In this time of uncertainty, many businesses are having to face a mandatory shut down. However, there are still things you can do to help keep your business running effectively. Managing your team properly, as well as maintaining an organization can help you to weather this storm and continue to run your business. Do Not PanicOne of the first things that someone may do when faced with uncertainty is panic about the situation. However, it is important as a business owner that you remain calm during this time of turmoil. Drafting up and putting a plan in place for both your company and for your team members will help to put some of your thoughts at ease. This plan could involve standard operating procedures for how your team members will handle work remotely or a plan for you on what to do in the worst-case scenario. Drafting up smaller steps at a time will help you see that there is a light at the end of the tunnel and as a business owner, you will persevere. Remaining strong and steadfast will help you provide a foundation for your business, as well as your team members when they are feeling unsure of the future. Manage Your TeamYour team is one of the most important aspects of your business. So, it is important not to overlook them. During the shutdown, you will want to make sure that your employees and team members are sure of their place within the business and have the proper means to complete their work. Unfortunately, not all cases will lead to job retention. However, providing your team members with proper communication and resources will help to guide them during this time. If you are planning on running your operations remotely, you will want to put a proper training session in place for your remote team members to ensure that they are capable of performing the necessary job tasks efficiently. Connect with Your AudienceDuring this time of uncertainty, one of the most essential things that you should be doing as a business owner is remaining connected with your audience. This can feel like a challenge to do, especially if you have been required to temporarily shut down your brick and mortar business. Instead, turn your attention to the digital world. There are several different platforms that you can use to engage with your audience. Depending on your type of business, you may even choose to run part of your operations for your customers utilizing the digital world. This may include face to face meetings, live class sessions, or online ordering. Gather ResourcesAlthough we are faced with much uncertainty during this time, this does not mean that your business cannot grow. Use this time to seek out new resources, spend time on educating yourself and your team members, and take advantage of networking opportunities. Lend a hand to a business that may be in need and accept help if it comes your way. These resources can prove to be beneficial both for the short-term and the long-term outlook of your business. Utilize TechnologyDuring this time, it is important to streamline business operations and processes. A shut down can affect businesses of every kind, including both online and brick and mortar businesses. This can be especially challenging for businesses to know what steps to take moving forward. Leaning on technology during the shut down can help businesses regain their footing and maintain it until they are able to reopen completely once again. This will help not only with connecting with your current and potential audience but also help you to manage your teams effectively. You may consider hosting virtual video chats weekly with your team members to touch base or you may utilize technology to keep your clients organized, as well as the assignment of tasks. When it comes to growing your business, you may be feeling overwhelmed right now. It is important to know that you can manage your current operations, keep the focus on what needs to get done, and still grow your business and connect with leads. Kennected provides business owners with automated lead generation services to help them better grow their business and connect with their potential audience. The post What Can Business Owners Do While Their Business is Shutdown? appeared first on Kennected|The Best LinkedIn Automation Tool For Generating Leads. from https://kennected.org/what-can-business-owners-do-while-their-business-is-shutdown/
mSpoke, ChoiceVendor, CardMunch, Connected, IndexTank, Rapportive, SlideShare, Pulse, Bright.com, Newsle, Bizo, Careerify, Refresh.io, Lynda.com, Fliptopm
For a long time, LinkedIn worked towards becoming the most reliable way of making professional connections online. This wouldn’t have been possible without the help of a few companies they acquired along the way. Over the years, LinkedIn has expanded itself by acquiring companies that had the potential to help them grow and improve their services. Here we will discuss some of the most notable business acquisitions LinkedIn has made. mSpokeLinkedIn’s first acquisition was back in 2010 when they bought a small startup called mSpoke that aims to make content more relevant through recommendation technology. Though exact terms were not disclosed, the company was reportedly acquired for $0.6 million. The company builds an “adaptive personalization engine” that combines advanced machine learning technology with consumer feedback. LinkedIn used mSpoke to fine-tune its recommendations so that it can bring LinkedIn users relevant content. ChoiceVendorAlso in 2010, LinkedIn acquired San Francisco-based startup ChoiceVendor for $3.9 million. This startup provides ratings and reviews of B2B service providers in more than 70 categories across the entire country. About the acquisition, LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner said: “Our acquisition of ChoiceVendor is right in line with our top priority to build a world-class team at LinkedIn. We’ve admired the work that Yan-David, Rama, and the talented ChoiceVendor team have done for some time now and are excited to have them join us, especially given their highly relevant work experience.” Yan-David Erlich is the co-founder and chief executive of ChoiceVendor, while Rama Ranganath is the VP of Engineering. Ranganath was an early engineer on Google’s AdSense team before co-founding ChoiceVendor, while Erlich was an entrepreneur. CardMunchCardMunch was acquired by LinkedIn for $1.7 million back in 2011. CardMunch was a free iPhone app used for converting business cards into digital address book contacts. Business cards can be messy, but CardMunch helped LinkedIn users stay organized. Unfortunately, the application only got updated once after that acquisition, which meant LinkedIn had to move towards a newer app called Evernote. CardMunch has since shut down. ConnectedConnected is a contact management startup that was acquired by LinkedIn in 2011, but the details of the acquisition were not disclosed. Connected is a CRM tool or customer relationship management tool that provides a way for people to manage their contacts online from Gmail, Google Contacts, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. IndexTankIndexTank was acquired in 2011, when LinkedIn was in an acquisition spree, for an undisclosed amount. IndexTank is a real-time hosted search engine service that allows developers to build research-based applications quickly. One benefit is that developers no longer had to worry about hosting their own search software. RapportiveRapportive is a Gmail plugin that shows the latest social network updates from whoever you are corresponding with. LinkedIn acquired Rapportive in 2012 for $12 million. After acquiring the startup, LinkedIn said it will continue to support Rapportive to help it build more products for users. SlideShareSlideShare is a hosting service for professional content such as infographics, documents, and videos, wherein users can upload files either publicly or privately in many different formats. Slideshare was acquired by LinkedIn in 2012 for $119 million. SlideShare content can be viewed either on the site itself, on handheld devices, or even embedded on other sites. It is described as something similar to YouTube, but for slideshows. SlideShare has about 38 million registered users and gets an estimated 80 million unique visitors per month. PulsePulse was acquired by LinkedIn back in 2013 for $90 million. This popular newsreader for web and mobile was acquired because LinkedIn wanted the site to “be the definitive professional publishing platform – where all professionals come to consume content and where publishers come to share their content.” Pulse started as an iPad app when it was founded in 2010 by Akshay Kothari and Ankit Gupta as students at Stanford University. Bright.comBright.com was acquired by LinkedIn for $120 million in 2014. As a job matching service similar to LinkedIn, Bright.com was absorbed by the company to help boost job matches for professionals. Several members of Bright’s team joined LinkedIn as part of the acquisition. NewsleLinkedIn acquired Newsle—a machine-learning startup founded to help users find relevant info about their most important contacts—in 2014. Newsle was founded in 2011 and was designed to scan the web to find blogs and articles that mention specific people such as blog posts and articles, and then return results. The details of the acquisition were not disclosed. However, as part of the acquisition, Newsle’s entire team of engineers, including four employees were hired by LinkedIn, along with founders Jonah Varon and Axel Hansen. BizoIn 2014, LinkedIn also acquired a business marketing company Bizo for $175 million. The company helps advertisers reach businesses and professionals. It offers targeting and analytics for display and direct response ads. LinkedIn was motivated to acquire Bizo because of the growth of business-to-business advertising on LinkedIn. The company wanted Bizo’s technology to help them improve their offerings. CareerifyCareerify has two products: the first is an employer branding software that helps companies attract prospective candidates, while the other is an internal mobility software that works as a hiring software. LinkedIn acquired Careerify in 2015 for an undisclosed amount, to help businesses hire people using social media. Refresh.ioLinkedIn bought Refresh.io for an undisclosed amount back in 2015. Refresh.io is a startup and iOS app that surfaces insights about people in your networks before you even meet them. This helps LinkedIn push its anticipatory computing, where it predicts what kind of information you need to know when you need it. Lynda.comLynda.com was acquired in 2015 for $1.5 billion. This website is focused on eLearning: helping users learn business, technology, software, and creative skills through videos. This is for users who wish to develop creative skills in order to achieve personal and professional goals. Lynda.com offers an expansive video library filled with engaging, top-quality courses taught by recognized industry experts. FliptopLinkedIn also acquired Fliptop in 2015 for an undisclosed amount. This predictive sales and marketing firm helps companies close more sales by using data science. Fliptop’s goal is to provide businesses with applications that can benefit them through data science and predictive analytics. LinkedIn continues to expand its internal ecosystem through acquisitions and investments. This, in turn, helps them provide a much more reliable service for professionals and businesses alike. The post 15 Notable Business Acquisitions by LinkedIn appeared first on Kennected|The Best LinkedIn Automation Tool For Generating Leads. from https://kennected.org/15-notable-business-acquisitions-by-linkedin/ Navigation Links: Remain Calm Create a Plan Keep Team Members Informed and Connected Utilize Technology for Communication and Organization Manage Your Time EfficientlyRemain CalmThe first order of business for you and the company is to remain calm. If you do not remain calm and instead instill a state of panic amongst your business, you will not see the results that you desire. States of panic can cause you, as well as team members, to make rash decisions that will potentially damage future operations. Instead, make a note to set aside an allotted amount of time to brainstorm about how the pandemic is going to affect your business and steps that you can take in order to help your business whether the storm effectively. During this time, it may be helpful to have more minds than one brainstorming ideas to further help develop a plan. In order to help your team members and in-house staff remain calm, you will need to provide your employees with a sense of security and normalcy. Depending on your business, this could mean a variety of different things. For instance, you may decide to call your employees in a meeting. You may discuss with them what the future looks like for the business and how your team is handling the next steps. It will be difficult for your team to remain calm if they are unsure of the future. Create a PlanTo better help your business and help manage your team members, you will need to draw up a plan. This could be done with the help of some of the in-house staff members or it could be drawn up exclusively by you. A well laid out plan will help to promote a sense of ease with the workplace and provide your employees with a foundation. A plan may outline which day the team will begin working remotely, as well as any equipment the team members may need. This plan may also touch on benefits, as well as pay for the remote working employees. You will want to create a plan on how your team members will communicate with each other, as well as do their jobs effectively while working remotely. Without a plan, your remote team will not feel organized and they may not know how to move on with the next steps. Keep Team Members Informed and ConnectedEven once your team has begun working remotely, you will want to remain in contact with your team members. In order to keep your business running effectively, you will need to make sure that your team has access to proper information, resources, and guidelines. These resources may entail important documentation that is relevant to the operations of the company or an emergency protocol. This is especially true if your business relies on communication between your team members with each other. You will want to ensure that you have these measures set up beforehand, so that they are ready for when your team makes the leap to working remotely. Utilize Technology for Communication and OrganizationSince your team will be working remotely, this means they will have access to technology to remain connected and organized as part of the business. Organizational apps can be especially useful for managing multiple projects, keeping track and tasks, and listing clients. These apps include Slack, Monday.com, and Asana. These apps could help to keep your team members on track and help to keep them from feeling overwhelmed by the switch to working remotely. Manage Your Time EfficientlyNow, more than ever, how you are spending your time as a business owner is important. Making the switch from in-house staff to remote workers can be a challenge, but it is not impossible. How you handle these next couple of decisions could help to make or break your business, as well as how your team members are managing the situation. Spending the majority of your time making this switch and making sure everything is set up can set back your business in other ways, such as finding and maintaining leads. Put the focus back in your business by putting your business on autopilot. Take the burden off your shoulders with Kennected, which helps business owners connect with potential prospects by utilizing an automation sequence. Finding leads for your business has never been made easier. The post How to Manage Your Team Remotely During The Corona Pandemic appeared first on Kennected|The Best LinkedIn Automation Tool For Generating Leads. from https://kennected.org/manage-your-team-remotely-corona-pandemic/ |
About UsKennected is the premier LinkedIn lead generation platform. Want to get more leads? Put your lead gen systems on auto pilot. Customers are generating tens of thousands of dollars a month and more. See why Kennected is the world's favorite LinkedIn outreach and lead gen platform. Archives
October 2020
Categories |