by Amanda Daniels-Allen | Jan 11, 2017 | Tools & Software |
The Problem
One of the main issues that Business Owners face on a daily basis is how they can quickly and efficiently communicate with all of their employees. This is often a hugely time consuming issue because people within a team have different preferences for communication platforms.
For example, some will prefer Facebook messenger, while other will use the Skype chat, WhatsApp and some may just stick to email. This is an issue, especially for managers because they will have to remember which platform each employee uses, then log in, remembering the login and password for each platform.
This many not seem like much of an issue, but for managers with a number of employees it can be very draining on the key resource of time!
Unification
Slack removes all of these issues by being a unification tool for the communication between team members. Business owners can create teams, and from them they can create channels, which will be focus on specific areas of the business or individual projects the business is currently working on.
For example, a marketing team may have 5 or 6 different channels, as they may have a separate channel for events, promotions, campaigns, social media, online courses etc. The people who are needed for the specific projects or areas of the business can then be added to the channel and it acts as almost a professional WhatsApp for Mobile (and now you can get WhatsApp for Desktop) space for everyone on that team to communicate efficiently and effectively.
Direct Messaging
Slack also has a direct messaging capability, as it may not always be appropriate to post all messages into the channels, so the direct messaging option makes communicating with a specific person within a team very quick and easy.
While, some might say this is just the same as email, it is much quicker and easier because there is no need to log into another application to contact someone individually, you can just quickly click on their name in the direct message section of the application and instantly message them. It also saves huge amounts of time in terms of people covering themselves sending numerous emails with people copied into them to ensure the blame does not fall on them.
Safe Storage
This ties into one of the best features of slack, as all the messages are instantly saved and stored safely within slack. Therefore, using the sophisticated search feature you can quickly and easily find messages, images or files that have ever been sent within a team.
Also, unlike email, twitter and Facebook to an extent people can only post messages and contribute if they have been added to the channel, therefore you do not have to waste time wading through messages that are not important for the business, and are irrelevant to this specific sector of the business or business project.
These features effectively reduce the time needed to engage with content of this type, focusing the communication in an intelligent way and consequently leading to increased productivity within the business.
Integration
Another amazing feature of slack is how it can be effectively integrated into many of the other tools which your business may already be using. Here at Koogar we stress the important of integration for all businesses marketing, and this tool makes integration of a number of elements/tools seamless.
An example of this integration is Dropbox, a hugely popular application which is used by almost all businesses as their primary storage facility for images, graphics and documents.
Slack will effectively integrate Dropbox into your communication channels and teams, and not only can you share any of your files from Dropbox into the channels, but if they are ever changed in Dropbox the files within slack will be automatically altered, so the version you posted in slack is always up-to-date. This feature is extremely useful for a range of businesses, especially when more than one person is working on the same document, image or graphic.
Customizable
Slack can also integrate with a number of other application such as Wunderlist and appear.in which make the most of the /command function, through which slack users can view their Wunderlist to-do lists right in slack or they can start an appear in video conference at the touch of a button. This highlights how slack is a hugely effective unification tool, which not only unifies your teams, but also unifies the applications that you use and love.
The range of different integration options is one of the best features of slack, because it makes it truly customizable, both in terms of individual taste and industry needs.
There are even add-ons such as slack digest that have been developed for extremely busy slackers, as it digests the content from a channel and condenses it down into the key information. Subsequently, busy business owners can keep up-to-date with the communications within the channels without having to read the full threads.
Overall slack is an amazing application, available across Microsoft, mac and chrome operating systems as well as android and iOS. It is the tool that all business owners, managers and members are using to effectively communicate, share ideas and share files all on the same platform. Once integrated with other apps such as Dropbox, Wunderlist and appear.in, slack truly has the potential to transform the productivity of businesses, and it is easy to see why people are so very excited about it.
by Amanda Daniels-Allen | Feb 11, 2015 | Email Marketing |
While building your business, you will hear a lot about list building and how “the money is in your list“. The money is ONLY in the list if you have a relationship and a sufficient communication strategy with your audience. This strategy must include OTHER marketing elements so you give your audience a variety of touch points throughout your communication.
Building a list of customers or potential customers is very important because it provides you with names of people who are interested in your products and services. It is a well-known fact that it is about ten times easier to sell to a person who has already bought and trusts you than to get new customers. Yet, many business owners and marketing managers do not build a list and repeat the entire sales process every time they are offering a new product.
I have to be honest here and tell you that building your list is not as easy as it was about five years ago; The Internet has since got very crowded and most people are now a little reluctant to give their email address, or even less their physical address or phone number., UNLESS you give them something of value in return!
I must stress that building a list ISN’T about getting as many people on it as possible.It’s about getting quality people who are interested in you, your company and what you do.
Having people who are not interested in you, your company or what you do is wasting your time. So if you have to start with 20 people then so be it!
I can’t blame them as I have opted-out from various newsletters as the information given to me isn’t relevant or I just don’t read them, also I do not give my email address to everyone who asks me. I just don’t want to be bombarded by all those selling emails, which is why it is more important now to NOT sell and give as much value as I can.
Some successful marketers have understood that their happy customers can become their best “sneezers“. It’s easy to understand that if a person has enjoyed your product/service and loved it, he/she is the best person to then promote your product/service and promote it to their list and friends. This is the reason why most successful marketers who have great products offer a solid affiliate program to increase their sales. This is a win-win situation.
There are a number of ways to build your list:
- Asking the people you meet if they would like to receive your newsletter is a great start! By adding them without asking you may get unsubscribes straightaway
- Offering an opt-in on your web site is a very popular option at the moment. It’s called a “lead magnet“. This is where you give a special report or EBook, a subscription to your newsletter or some sort of checklist that your readers would find useful
- Posting on other people’s newsletter for either free or paying to do so; Remember this is about giving value NOT selling
- Press release or write articles/blogs that draw people back to your web site
- Design a specific a5/a6 flyer to be handed out during networking, speaking engagements about your special report or EBook
- Set-up a joint venture or an endorsed e-mailing with a person who has a good list and the same type of audience you would like to get in front of. It is not a question of stealing their list but rather getting your new partner to share you with their customers and clients as you will be able to give them value in a different way. As long as there isn’t a cross over within your businesses this should work a treat
- Participating in giveaways. You have to provide a good product/service and realise that the person who has subscribed to your list is just interested in FREE stuff so far.
- Participating in social bookmarking sites has the value to have people know you and they can sign-up to your list
- Gathering the names and emails of the people who bought products/services or how have asked for more information from you
- Adding a “tell-a-friend” script can greatly increase the size of your list
Buying an existing list is not something I recommend as most people on that list have not heard of you. If you think about it you only ever open an email from someone/a company/brand you recognise or because you have asked for more information. If you are going to buy lists ensure that they are of a specific target audience and your message is relevant to them and compelling enough for them to take action.
I’ve had a chat with Dan Harrison (the chap who created the Squeeze Page Toolkit), and he’s got an EBook that you might find really useful.
It’s an eBook called “The Busy Business Owners Guide to Building Your List in 78 Minutes (or less)”.
Visit this link to download your own copy today!
If you have other ways of building your list please comment below and let us know which you have found to be useful and effective!
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