Is Your Business Disoverable Passion Squared blog

Is Your Business Discoverable?

November 7, 2016Nina KovnerENGAGE

The single biggest problem with communication is the illusion that it has taken place. George Bernard Shaw

One of the most effective ways we grow our business is by engaging new clients. Word of mouth and referrals are the way this happens. We all know this. With the social + digital web, we have an awesome opportunity to amplify word of mouth and referrals. Yet, unless we are present on the platforms that people use to find businesses, then we have missed the opportunity to be discoverable.

So let me take you on a little journey, and before you jump on, put your “client” hat on…

Intent
I want or need something

Search
I am going to look for it

Discovery
Yay, I found it.

Action
I am going to click, call, book, buy…. or NOT!

There are two ways I like to look at search and discovery. There is social and digital. Both need to be looked at now as mobile search as nearly all of our day to day online activities are happening via our mobile.

Social
Social search is what it sounds like, searching on social. This is what we do when we use the search bar on Facebook, peruse hashtags or use the discovery page on Instagram or even use Snapchat to find businesses via a tool like Ghostcode, Add Nearby, etc. See where I am going with this?

Digital
Digital search is a more traditional type search like Google, Yelp, YouTube, Yahoo, Siri, etc.

The Job of Search Engines & How You Benefit
Both social + digital platforms and search engines are designed to deliver to us the most relevant and recent results for the terms we used to search. So if your business is relevant to the search and you are active on the platforms you have chosen, you have more of a chance of being in the top results.

Put Your Consumer Hat Back On
Ask yourself and think about the last time you searched for something online.
What terms did you use?

Now think about clients looking for your business.
What terms would they use to find you?
What is your “thing”? What experiences do you offer?
Who is your audience?
All these things need to be thought through to ensure you get matched up with the ideal target clients.

The words, posts, photo descriptions, about sections, etc. need to be relevant to your brand and business so when I go looking, I find YOU.

What Pages Matter?
Well, there are some that matter to all and then some that matter depending on your target audience as we always want to be where our clients are. But here is a good start.
Yelp
Google Business
Facebook
Instagram

Now Its Your Turn!
This week, I want you to set aside one hour to do some more searches of your own. Then head back to your social + digital pages and see where you can improve your chances of becoming more discoverable. Think words, think pictures and their descriptions, think contact info, brand name, services and specialties, all those things matter.

And if you feel extra inspired, click here and let me know what you discovered and what actions you will take.

Love + Awesomeness-
Nina

Passion Squared Blog- Why Would I Follow You-

Why Would I Follow You?

June 27, 2016Nina KovnerENGAGE, GROW

“The cost of a thing is the amount of what I will call life which is required to be exchanged for it, immediately or in the long run.”  Henry David Thoreau

I mean really, why? This is the question I ask myself daily, and one I believe we all must ask ourselves, online and off.

Why would I follow you?
Why would I book with you?
Why would I review you?
Why would I refer you?
Why would I talk about you?
Why would I work for you?
Why would I pay you?
Why would I come back to you?

If you cannot answer these questions with clarity and intention, its time to take a step back and look at your brand. This is your story. Your purpose. Your promise. Without those, you are not a brand. You are simply a business. One that can be easily replaced with the next “best” thing. The next “shiny object”. The next “lowest price”. The next “contest”.

Brands add value.
Brands make me feel something.
Brands speak to me on an emotional level.
Brands create revenue.
Brands have life.
Brands inspire me to take an action.

Why did you choose to follow Passion Squared?

Love + Awesomeness-

Nina

 

Larisa Love

From Instagram To Eyelash Extensions In Two Clicks

June 9, 2014Nina KovnerENGAGE, GROW

“Make it easy for people to talk about you.”

Andy Sernovitz

 

Larisa Love
Here is the audio version of this post. Thank you so much for listening.

This is not a story about my beautiful new eyelash extensions, but one of how word of mouth and referrals happen when you truly become a social business. It does not get any more simple (not easy) than this. Here is how the story goes…

I follow larisadoll on Instagram. She is one of the most insanely talented colorists I have seen and has truly mastered the art of content creation, sharing and engagement on Instagram. She is so in demand, she is not even taking new clients. OMG, how many people can say that?

So as you can see in the pic above, she posted about her new lashes she got from the amazing Claudia Rod, miss_c_rod26 at Sinful Lashes. Now let me get something real clear, I had no intention of getting eyelash extensions. In fact, anything on or in my eyes makes me crazy. But I am a student of the social + digital web, and had to see what the fuss was all about, why did Larisa love her lashes so much?

So I quickly clicked on the Sinful Lashes page, and saw that a promotion was happening with Claudia.   (I found out later Claudia was just beginning her career as an eyelash extension artist and is working hard on building her biz).

Sinful Lashesphoto 3-4The Sinful Lashes page had a link to their website which allowed me to book online. Immediately. It was SO EASY. Just as it should be in 2014. A simple and seamless user experience. Is your booking process simple and seamless?

 

 

 

 

 

I was so excited for my new lash experience and to meet Claudia. She was so professional, sweet and insanely talented. She also, as professionals do, educated me on caring for my new lashes and recommended all the Sinful Lashes products I needed to care for them. Did I invest in the products she recommended? You bet I did. I just invested time and money into my new lashes and want to be sure they stay awesome in between visits. And yes, there will be more visits. Every three weeks to get a touch up.

My New LashesBut the story does not end there. Of course I had to share my experience on Instagram with all my beautiful followers and now I am writing a blog about my experience.

This is how word of mouth and referrals work in 2014.

It will never replace offline word of mouth, it only amplifies it. This is as simple as it gets. But it takes commitment, time, energy and consistency. It takes creating an awesome offline experience. It takes engaging on the platforms your clients (and potential future clients) engage on. It takes making it easy for clients to talk about you.

Thank you to Sinful Lashes, Larisa Love, and Claudia Rod for the experience and for creating awesome on my lashes. If you are in or around LA or planning on visiting, well, you know what I am going to say… book a reservation with Claudia at Sinful Lashes.

Love + Awesomeness-
Nina

Word of Mouth

The Multiplier Effect

January 28, 2013Nina KovnerENGAGE, GROW

“Learn to make customers really, really happy. It doesn’t take much more than that.”

 Andy Sernovitz

Word of mouth.  The foundation of every successful business and most definitely the foundation of a salons success.  It’s almost such a common phrase and concept that we forget the power of it.

Check out our fave biz guru Gary Vaynerchuk on what he calls The Multiplier Effect of the social web, in other words, the POWER of the social + digital web to ignite word of mouth.  It’s short, so press play and we will review after.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xY1skOtCSBs

Simple concept? Yes. Easy to execute and make happen? Not so much.

Here is what it takes:
1. Caring
2. Listening
3. Engaging

If you only did those 3 things, there is no doubt in our minds that you will begin to see how the social + digital web can super charge your word of mouth and in turn, your business.

Give it a try.

If you are serious about super charging your word of mouth both online and off, we offer one-on-one mentoring to help you craft the ultimate plan.  To learn more about Passion Squared Mentoring, click here.  We look forward to helping you ignite your passion and live your dream.

(shared with LOVE from your passionistas Nina + Gordon)