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There are a number of ways to use chatbots in your business in order to develop a relationship with your target audience and keep your customers happy.

 

1. Customer Service

Customer service that is as close to real time as possible is bound to impress customers. Many large businesses have taken to Twitter and other social media sites to interact more rapidly with those who contact them. The trouble is, they have to be online to do so.

Chatbots, on the other hand, are online 24/7/365 to answer questions. Automation of this type can save a lot of time, effort and wages, while still keeping your customers and prospect happy. It does require some advance planning to set up a customer service chatbot using keywords which will trigger the correct pre-prepared response, but the technology has now improved to the point where chatbots are a good deal more accurate.

In addition, they have improved to the point where customers, particularly younger ones who are always in a hurry, are happy to use them rather than email or social media and then have to wait for a response.

 

2. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Many businesses create an FAQ portal in the hope that customers will help themselves and find the answers they seek. But there are always going to be some who don’t want to hunt for the information they need and also desire “human” contact and interaction. A chatbot with pre-loaded words from typical questions will help trigger the kinds of answers they are looking for. They will get their answers right away, often at a critical point in their decision-making process, which can lead to more sales and profits.

Think of your pre-loaded messages as the follow-up or autoresponder emails in your email marketing platform, except customized to match what your customers have asked for specifically. If you’re not already using a chatbot like Facebook Messenger, it might be time to explore how useful a chatbot can be.

 

3. Marketing

Marketing online can be very time-consuming because of the many different channels you need to cover. Basically, you have to be where your customers are. This means all of the top social networks, email, discussion boards and chat rooms, and more.

If you can automate your marketing, you can still promote your business effectively, but still, save time and person-hours. A chatbot can help because it allows you to message anyone who is connected with you. Think of it as a “broadcast” email in your email marketing platform, with you sharing important news with your followers. This news might include:

 

A product launch – Letting people know your new product is available could just give it the boost it needs to be successful right out of the starting gate.

 

A webinar (just starting) – Invite people to your webinar. Then, when your webinar is about to start, message a reminder to attend, and to invite others to do so as well if the people on your list know anyone else who might be interested.

 

A special flash sale – Sales are a good way to stimulate more profits, especially when things are slow. Flash sales are also a great way to help give your followers the feeling they are appreciated and special.

 

A live video event (just starting) – Invite them to attend your YouTube or Facebook Live video at a particular date and time. Send a reminder just before you are starting. Encourage them by making it clear they can ask you questions live on the video, for more interactivity and relationship building.

 

As you can see, chatbots can be invaluable for your marketing and customer service. Use it wisely!

Storytelling is not just for bedtime anymore. It is now a strong marketing tool that can help you connect with your customers in powerful ways.

 

Why Storytelling?

Storytelling is as old as mankind. From cave paintings to oral transmission to books, there is nothing quite like a good story to entertain, teach and give examples. Stories provide a context for a journey of discovery and lessons learned, of solving problems and discovering knowledge that can transform.

A good marketing story can do this too in relation to any product or service you are selling.

 

The Structure of a Good Story

Every story has a beginning, middle and end. We can also say before, actions taken, and after. This can be a powerful structure for illustrating exactly how useful your product is to your customers as they share their stories through reviews and testimonials.

 

The Ring of Truth

Customer stories are so powerful because they have a real ring of truth to them. Studies have shown that people on social media are far more likely to accept the word of a relative stranger in their network compared to marketing material produced by a company. Simply put, stories sell.

 

Stories Reveal a Struggle and a Journey

As a marketer and product creator, you should be offering products you know speak to the needs of your target audience. How can you know this is the case? By researching their “pain points” – the things they commonly struggle with in relation to a particular topic within your niche. This is the “before” part of the story.

Then they try your product, get results, and live happily ever after (you hope). That is the “after” part of the story. And of course, we all enjoy a story with a good ending.

Your target audience should be able to identify with the struggle. The solution you offer should be an effective one that will really work. The ending will help your target customer imagine a life free from the thing that has been challenging them. And you can accomplish all this without any media “hype” or any hard sell.

 

Your Business Journey

Your own company’s story can also be a powerful marketing tool. For example, if you were a teacher but decided you could reach even more students via the internet so you could help them gain the skills they need to succeed through the books and courses you publish, that is a positive journey that a lot of people would get behind. It is a lot more compelling than starting an online business just to make money.

If a percentage of your profits go to a certain charity, like animal rescue, that can be a compelling story as well. Telling your story gives your business a more human side and can be related to more easily. Customers have a choice about where to spend their money. They might choose you because they support your mission.

 

Stories Are Full of Action

Stories are interesting because the main character takes action and gets a result. Even if it isn’t the one they intended, they have still tried something and learned from it. They have come through their journey older and wiser.

In the case of products purchased, they may have had to try more than one until they found a solution that really worked. This too can be a powerful part of a customer story — looking for the right solution several times until they finally found your product.

 

Be sure to ask for reviews and testimonials and you should soon see a change for the better in your marketing results.

 

YouTube has only been online for a few short years, but it has quickly become one of the hottest destinations on the Internet.  Once a little-used medium due to slow Internet connections, the widespread use of broadband has made online video a popular attraction.  YouTube is one of the first sites to have been built around online video, and its ease of use and variety of videos has made it extremely popular.

Marketers were quick to catch on to the possibilities presented by YouTube.  They began to create “viral videos”, clips that were intended to draw interest and spark widespread distribution.  YouTube’s embed feature allows anyone to place videos on his blog or website, so by creating funny or informative videos, marketers could spread their message far and wide.

Any online marketer can harness the power of YouTube to promote his products, services and website.  Here are some types of videos that tend to do well:

Popular commercials – If you have a television commercial that has brought you lots of business, putting it on YouTube can get you more mileage out of it.  And best of all, you don’t have to pay for airtime.

How-to videos – While some Internet users just want to be entertained, many of them come online looking for information.  How-to videos allow them to see how something is done rather than just reading about it. Businesses capitalize on this by producing videos about how to do things that relate to their products or services.

Video from special events – If you’ve held or participated in a conference, seminar or other special events, posting a video of it on YouTube could get you lots of traffic.  So don’t forget to take your video camera along!

Funny videos – Lots of Internet users visit YouTube when they need a good laugh.  If you can whip up a funny video that features your products or services, there’s a good chance that it could be highly rated and go viral.

A frequent mistake of YouTube marketers is just uploading their video and hoping for the best.  Here are some simple steps you can take to increase your video’s chances of success.

Take care to put your video in the right category, and make full use of tags.  Add tags that describe your business and products, as well as the video’s subject matter.  This will help users find your video more easily.

Write a good description that contains keywords that one might use to find your video.  Also, be sure to include your site’s URL in the description.

Be sure to allow embedding, comments and ratings.  Allowing others to embed your video will give it more exposure.  Making it possible for them to comment will generate discussion, which is also good for your video’s success.  And allowing ratings could put you higher in YouTube’s search rankings if people like your video.

YouTube is an invaluable marketing tool.  It gives businesses the opportunity to use the popularity of online video to their advantage.  Anyone can create a video with Windows Movie Maker and upload it to YouTube, so why not give it a try if you haven’t already?

Story-based marketing has been growing by leaps and bounds, changing the way prospective customers see business and connecting with them in all new ways. These new connections can help gain sales and customer loyalty.

There are a number of best practices when it comes to marketing using storytelling. Here are a few to consider.

 

Your brand story is important but it is not all about you

Your brand story tells why you got into business and what drives your efforts, but it is not only about you. It is about the effect your story has on your target audience. You want them to feel an emotional connection that will make them eager to join your mission. For example, a lot of people admired Steve Jobs because he founded Apple in his parents’ garage. He had a vision of success and followed it, even when he lost control of the company for a time.

You may have gone into business just to start a college fund for the kids, but consider what your wider concerns might be – such as going green, helping with animal rights, and so on. Then your mission will be about so much more than just making money.

Your brand is not just about shopping; it’s about enhancing lives, so anything you can include in your story that emphasizes this should resonate with your audience.

 

You Won’t Always Have Control of the Stories Told about You

As soon as reviews and testimonials start to come in and get published on sites like Amazon or comments are made on social media, your brand’s image and reputation, and people’s perceptions, can change significantly – and not always for the better. If this happens, don’t turn a spark into a forest fire. Just redouble your efforts to get honest, positive reviews to drown out any negativity. Get them from real people. Don’t write them yourself in an attempt to fool people. It will make things that much worse if you get caught.

On the upside, consumer-generated content that is positive will help with content creation and give an authentic ring of truth to your sales materials.

 

Consistency

Your story should be consistent across all your channels. Who are you, what do you do, and what motivates you to do it?

 

Different Voices, Same Story

Anyone in your company can contribute to the storytelling. They can talk about where they get their ideas to help people, why it is so great working for a green company, and so on.

 

Multimedia

Offer written stories, video and audio. Encourage your customers to record their testimonials. Consider giving them a few questions or prompts to help get the ball rolling.

 

Include Images

Everyone loves good images that support what the text is talking about. Use images, memes, infographics and more to make your stories stand out.

 

Authentic

Your story should feel real, honest, and authentic – not hype. If your content isn’t getting passed around a lot, chances are it might not feel authentic enough to your target audience. Or perhaps they feel they have seen it before and your story is a bit stale, or not unique enough.

 

Storytelling can take your brand to a whole new level. Use these best practices to make the most of this form of marketing.

 

People love information.  If you give them something interesting to read, you can direct them anywhere you choose.  Your selling power will experience an increase more than you thought possible.

You are offering quality products or services that you want to sell to the general public to add quality to their lives.  The problem is that if the competition is saying the same thing, what will make them choose you?

 

That is where your wording comes into play.  Have you ever read a book and could picture the scene just by the descriptive words on the page?  The words made the book come to life.

That is what you will do with the right words.  These words will influence the reader to take a look at your website and also to buy or sign up when they get there.  These influential words are not just limited to ad copy but can be used throughout your website content and page headlines like a trail of breadcrumbs until they find your product and make the sale.

 

What are these words?  Well, the words vary depending on what you are selling.  You want to create a picture with those words of a place or situation that includes your product or service.  Once you’ve created the picture you can begin weaving in words that will have a hypnotic effect on your customers.

To create that picture, you need to know a little something about grammar and sentence structure.  As a writer, or if you hire a writer to do the ads, they will need to be familiar with these two things.

Most people read at an eighth-grade level.  Big words or long sentences will cause them to yawn and lose interest.  Keep your sentences short but powerful. Use as few words as possible to get your point across.

 

Choosing the right words is like a commercial filled with subliminal messages.  It could be a word that appears in several places within the commercial or an action that the actors keep performing that transmits a message to your brain.  A sweaty brow could make you feel hot or desire a cold drink or a new air conditioner.

What you don’t want is for the customer to figure out what you are doing.  It is misdirection as much as persuasion. You are creating a scene that gets the reader to feel certain things while sprinkling in words that will lead them to you and your product.  By doing this, when you get to the point where you tell them to visit you and buy, they are ready and eager to do it.

One way to find the right words is to examine other successful businesses and see what they do.  What are their “right” words and how do they use them? If you are good at persuasion, choosing the right words for your customer base will bring in the sales you seek.

Networking online is a great thing. It helps you stay connected with your peers and can make working from home a little less lonely. However, there are some pitfalls to networking online.

On the internet, you don’t have face-to-face interaction with people. You also have a larger amount of people to deal with at any one time. Most of the people you’ll meet are anonymous and this anonymity can often create a feeling of freedom in people. Meaning they may not moderate the things they say and often times may behave completely different from how they would behave offline. This can lead to a lot of negativity and often harshness.

Here are a few tips to help you avoid the negative situations that sometimes creep up in the online world.

 

Find the right networking group. If you love to visit a specific forum but find that you always leave there feeling worse than when you first logged in, it may be time to cut your losses and find a new group.

Some forums can be very exciting and fast moving but that also tends to draw a large variety of members. At the worst of times, people may get insulting or downright mean. This isn’t really a situation you want to be in, specifically when you need to stay positive in building your business.

The bottom line here is that if you don’t feel good, you should move on. Listen to your gut instincts about what you’re feeling and don’t worry if the specific forum seems to be “the place” to be – if the negativity is too much for you, you’ll be better off building your network elsewhere.

 

Read between the lines. Often times, when people write online what they say can be misinterpreted as “harsh” or “negative” when it may not be the case. Remember, online we can’t see people’s gestures or facial expressions so it may be worth not reading too much into what someone is saying.

If you’re in doubt you can always ask them to explain what they mean. You may find they didn’t mean to sound negative in the first place.

 

Find a mastermind group. Mastermind groups can be a comforting place to find support and build a strong network, as long as you choose a group of like-minded individuals. Researching and taking the time to find the right mastermind group is worth the time, as the right group may help your business grow in leaps and bounds.

A good mastermind group is worth its weight in gold. You’ll be able to connect with people who are positive and there to help each other. The negativity and playground games get left behind and you can get down to the business of building your business.

 

Ignore the situation. There is always someone who ruins it for others. Take the strength away from negative types by simply ignoring them. Enjoy your networking group and look over the few bad apples. With any luck, they’ll get tired and go find a different playground to spend time in.

 

Build yourself up. Negativity can be found everywhere we look for it. So perhaps it’s time to look the other way – to positivity. Work on yourself first by visualizing and living the life you want to live. Stay positive about your business and you’ll attract more like-minded people your way, making the negative ones seem insignificant.

Maybe you love to travel or have a great deal of experience and knowledge about vacation destinations.  Maybe you just like the idea of working from home and discussing the best vacation spots! These days, most people make their travel arrangements via the internet, which opens a door of opportunity to work as a travel agent from home.  Here are a few tips and guidelines for getting started.

 

Find out your state’s laws regarding licensing    

Some states require travel agents to be licensed.  If such is the case in your state, you’ll need to find out what is required to obtain your license.  Certain fees may apply and will need to be considered as part of your start-up costs.

 

Equipment

How you set up your home office will affect your efficiency and productivity.  You will need an area devoted to your business, with a filing cabinet, telephone, and computer equipped with a fast internet connection such as dsl or cable.  Your computer will also need appropriate travel software, such as SABRE. You also might consider investing in a headset so that you can speak with a client on the phone while finding information on your computer.

Find a niche

You’ll want to specialize in a particular area of travel to determine your target market and keep your focus.  Some possibilities are cruises, family vacations, spa retreats, and honeymoons. Go with what appeals to you and where the market is strongest.

 

Find a reputable agency through whom to work

While you will be working as an independent travel agent, working with a reputable travel agency that will support you in meeting your business goals is worthwhile.  Look for a company that has a good reputation, particularly in your niche, with a strong online presence. Such companies can help get you started with a client base, and often make a point of hiring agents who work from home.  It saves the agency overhead costs and working under their “umbrella” will save you the work of getting clients from scratch.

 

Set competitive fees

There is a lot of demand for travel agents and the business is lucrative, but because of its popularity there is a great deal of competition.  You’ll want to find out what a typical agent charges and set your fees accordingly. You might also consider offering some services for free for promotional purposes, especially at the beginning of your business venture.  And be sure to pamper your clients and keep them “grandfathered in” to your original rates if you raise them later.

 

Include marketing in your budget

You might consider hiring a professional to work with you in marketing your business.  Such experts abound online, and their fees vary. Usually, they offer various packages with different options to fit your marketing needs.  You can also use social networking (such as Facebook and Twitter) to circulate your name and promote your business.

It’s exciting to live in a day and age when technology has opened up the possibility of working from home as a travel agent.  Get your clients excited along with you, and you’ll be in business!

Motherhood is certainly a life-changing event.  Our children become the center of our lives, and we must make adjustments to make sure they’re cared for.  Instead of hiring a babysitter, more and more moms are choosing to start their own businesses so they can be there for their kids and still contribute to the family income.

Self-employment offers a certain amount of flexibility.  But in most businesses, a certain amount of time outside the home is required.  At the very least, you’ll need to meet with clients in your home. This can be rather inconvenient for moms, especially when they have small children.  So many of them are looking for opportunities to make money online.

 

Starting an online business has a number of advantages for moms.  These include:

Start-up costs for an online business are often low.  So even if you are not currently working outside the home, starting an online business is usually within reach.  Setting up a website and buying some software are often all that’s needed to get started, and that can be accomplished for a few hundred dollars or less.

 

Doing business online doesn’t require one to keep regular hours.  You can work early in the morning before the kids get up, during the baby’s nap, or late at night when everyone is in bed.  And with the automation that the Internet has to offer, orders can be processed and virtual products delivered while you are sleeping or taking care of the kids.

 

You can get some work done with the kids right by your side.  Older children may even be able to help you with simple tasks. Did you know that the IRS allows you to deduct wages (up to a certain amount) paid to a child who is age seven or older to work in your home business from your taxes?

 

There are all sorts of online businesses that are great for moms.  You could sell your crafts on eBay or Etsy.com, or you could start your own e-commerce website.  You might offer services such as writing, transcription, web design or virtual assistance to customers around the world.  Or you could create and sell information products. Even blogging offers impressive money-making potential. The possibilities are many, and there’s sure to be something out there that’s just right for any mom.

 

Moms make up a large portion of the people who are making money online.  This allows them to take a hands-on approach to raising their children while still making money to support the household.  They don’t have to count on a sitter to take care of their children’s needs, and they don’t have to make a commute part of their daily routine.  It’s no wonder that the number of moms starting online businesses is growing in leaps and bounds.

When it comes to starting your own business, you’ll likely eventually need other people to do work for you.  Instead of hiring employees, you might consider finding contractors to outsource your work to. This will not only save you money, but it also has a lot of other benefits as well.

 

When you hire your own employees, you have to pay a lot more than just their salary.  Employers have to pay employee benefits like health and accident insurance, paid vacation, social security, and other additional expenses.  While most of these are small costs, over time they add up to quite a bit of money out of your pocket. If you hire contractors instead of employees, they pay for their own benefits, so you don’t have to worry about the expenses.  The only downside is that, because they incur these expenses themselves, they generally add these expenses into their fees.

 

In addition to paying for benefits for your employees, you also pay for training.  Even if someone comes into your business with experience, they still don’t usually know exactly how your business works and it takes time for you to get them up to speed.  If there is a new program or style you want them to use, you need to train them on it. A contractor does their own training so you don’t have to worry about it. Plus, if you don’t like the quality of work you’re getting from a contractor, you can just get a new one.  When you get a new employee, you have to go through the hassle and expense of training a whole new person.

 

Another financial benefit to hiring contractors is that you only pay them when they work, and they only work when you have business, and therefore profits.  If you lose a client or have less work to go around, you can simply stop using a contractor. If someone is your employee, you either have to pay them even though they don’t have work to do, or lay them off, which is a financial drain as well.

 

Contracting out work decreases your overhead costs in addition to not having to pay salaries.  Keeping employees also requires you to have a place for them to work. This includes the costs of owning or renting space, computers and other equipment for them to work on, office supplies, bathrooms, and a whole slew of other things required to run an office, all of which cost you money.  You can avoid all these costs when you hire out work; however, remember that contractors factor this into their charges. At the same time, you avoid these costs altogether when work is slow.

 

While outsourcing is a great way to save money, it has other positives.  Outsourcing helps you reduce your business risk. Since you’re not obligated to hire anyone when you don’t have business, you can protect yourself in case of hard times.  It’s easy to lean down your business and survive until work picks up again. Outsourcing also adds a degree of flexibility to your business. If you decide to head in a different direction with your work, you can simply hire new contractors instead of retraining employees.  This lets you be adaptable and makes you much more likely to survive and turn a profit.

 

There is no shortage of books about entrepreneurship.  Just visit Amazon.com and you’ll find that there are many thousands of titles available.  But all books on starting a business are not created equal.

Women entrepreneurs are making great strides in the business world.  This trend has resulted in numerous books geared toward them. Here are a few must-reads for the entrepreneurial lady.

 

The Chic Entrepreneur:  

Put Your Business in Higher Heels by Elizabeth Gordon and Leanna Adams – The Chic Entrepreneur is an entertaining guide to building a successful business.  Full of case studies and illustrations, this book is easy to read and understand. It covers topics such as choosing a niche, attracting great employees and marketing your business.

 

The Woman’s Advantage:  

20 Women Entrepreneurs Show You What It Takes to Grow Your Business by Mary Cantando – Would the advice of twenty successful female entrepreneurs help you grow your business?  Then this book is for you! The Woman’s Advantage features stories of women who have overcome adversity to become owners of lucrative businesses. But these stories do not simply serve as inspiration.  Each one highlights a specific strategy that can help women succeed in business.

 

Business Capital for Women:  

An Essential Handbook for Entrepreneurs by Emily Card and Adam Miller – Obtaining funding for a business venture can be a huge obstacle for female entrepreneurs.  This book details everything a woman needs to know to get the money she needs to start a business. From borrowing money from friends and family to finding an angel investor, Business Capital for Women provides step-by-step information to help you get the funds you need.

 

The Mary Kay Way:

Timeless Principles from America’s Greatest Woman Entrepreneur by Mary Kay Ash – Mary Kay Ash, founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics, was one of the best known and most successful women entrepreneurs ever.   In this book, she shares her management and marketing philosophies. Popular among independent beauty consultants, The Mary Kay Way also provides lots of helpful information for all types of entrepreneurs.

 

The Accidental Entrepreneur:  

The 50 Things I Wish Someone Had Told Me About Starting a Business by Susan Urquhart-Brown – Here is a story that a great many entrepreneurs can relate to.  The author jumped into starting her own business head first, almost on a whim. In this book, she shares the mistakes she made and what she learned from them.  This is an invaluable resource for aspiring entrepreneurs and seasoned veterans alike.

 

These books and others like them are great for entrepreneurs who are just getting started, as well as current business owners who want to take their businesses to the next level.  By reading what has worked for other women, you are investing in your own success.