Tag: LinkedIn

Level Up Your Digital Marketing with LinkedIn

May 9, 2023

By Zach Vesper, Senior SEO and Marketing Strategist We’ve previously discussed best practices for getting set up on LinkedIn as a small business, but as new features and opportunities become available, it can be difficult to know how to navigate through LinkedIn’s tools effectively. LinkedIn stands out from the crowd due to its focus as a business-oriented digital networking platform. As such, LinkedIn should not always be treated the same as platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or TikTok. If you are looking to expand the use of your LinkedIn Business Page, it’s important to understand the strengths and weaknesses of LinkedIn as a platform. To optimize our efforts, let’s take a minute to explore LinkedIn’s unique features and how you can use them to strengthen your business’ presence online. Reviewing the Strengths of LinkedInIn many ways, LinkedIn is set up similarly to other social media platforms. LinkedIn allows users to post content and build an audience over time, it promotes engagement, and it invites users to interact with relevant content based on what their interests are as determined by LinkedIn’s own algorithm. The main distinguisher of LinkedIn is its intended function as a social platform for businesses and business owners

How To Show Appreciation To Your Clients

February 14, 2023

By Michael Trimble, NPI, Inc.’s Content Marketing Coordinator Business owners wear a lot of hats. They need to be an expert in their field and provide great service to remain competitive. However, many entrepreneurs may not realize how important it is to foster relationships. Businesses survive and thrive based on the development of ongoing relationships. Just as you innovate and improve upon your services, client appreciation should be a constant focus for improvement. Some people have little trouble with building relationships. However, many entrepreneurs are more detail-oriented and analytical in their personality types. While everyone knows that it is important to show appreciation, some might struggle with finding the best way to show it! To get the ball rolling on developing your own client appreciation strategies, here are a few well-tested methods that have produced positive results. Make Your Message Handwritten While not appropriate for every message, entrepreneurs that follow up after jobs with handwritten notes on occasion will stand out from the crowd. Society has shifted to less personal forms of communication. Email and social media are valuable tools for instant communication, but these channels can make conversations feel too general. Relationships are much more difficult to build with

Upgrading Your Social Media Marketing With Videos

January 17, 2023

By Stepha Vesper, NPI, Inc.’s Senior Communications Strategist As small business owners, the importance of a strong social media presence cannot be overstated. Now more than ever, videos are dominating the social media marketing space. The types of videos consumers prefer follow a few trends, but their importance has steadily grown. According to social media marketing experts at Wyzowl, 92% of marketers consider video the most important part of their marketing strategy. If videos aren’t currently part of your social media marketing plan, now may be the time to consider incorporating this powerful engagement tool. Why Videos Are So Successful On Social Media There are many reasons why videos have become a priority to marketers, but the main reason is how much engagement videos draw in comparison to graphics, articles, or other types of social media content. With that increased engagement, your posts will see a dramatic growth in their marketing reach as platforms push your posts out to a larger audience. Engagement occurs any time a post receives a like, is shared, or receives a comment. According to Twitter, tweets that include videos attract 10 times the engagement of tweets without them. These findings are unsurprising, as strongly constructed

How to Make Time for Social Media

February 28, 2019

By Stepha Vesper, NPI, Inc.’s Marketing Communications Specialist As a small business owner, you probably feel pretty rushed. You want to be sure that anything you do will be worth it in the long-run so your business can thrive. We can tell you with confidence that social media is definitely worth the manpower, but how can you allocate that priceless commodity, time? Here’s where to start. Take a look at your task list.If you’re trying to make time for anything, it only makes sense to take a look at what you’re actually doing over the course of your day. Now is a good time to create a list of tasks you already do, from the moment you wake up till the moment you quit work for the day. Be sure not to leave anything out! Now that you’ve made a list, take a close look at it. What items on your list absolutely have to be done every day? What items have flexibility? What items are you just not sure about in terms of long-term success? What items aren’t helping you reach your goals at all? Once you have a definitive list of must-do tasks, you have a great place

4 Quick Tips for Making the Most of Small Business Social Media

November 28, 2017

By Stepha Vesper, NPI, Inc.’s Marketing Communications Specialist As a busy small business owner, it’s easy to let social media slip off your radar. But with consumers spending up to 53% of their online time browsing social media sites, carving out a slot in your schedule for posting can mean broadening your reach in ways you never thought possible. Here are a few tips for making time for social media and getting the most from your efforts. 1. Automate your posts.Using a platform that allows you to schedule your posts in advance can be a lifesaver when it comes to making time for social media. Setting aside an hour every weekend to schedule your weekly posts across all social media sites is a great way to make sure that the job gets done, even during your busiest weeks. NPI recommends SocialPilot for its affordability and ease of use. Like all great things, scheduling posts in advance can have its drawbacks. Here are a few things to consider: 2. Spend time online where it counts the most.Chances are that not every social media platform is going to be the perfect fit for your business. For example, you may find that Twitter

Daily Videos: Reaching Tomorrow’s Homebuyers with Social Media

September 24, 2024

How can inspectors can utilize short-form video content creation on social media to boost their presence? We’ll discuss realistic ways that won’t overwhelm their busy schedules.

Responsiveness: The Traits of a Successful Property Inspector

September 10, 2024

Being responsive is a valuable quality in any professional industry, but we’ve found that property inspectors who prioritize this trait separate themselves from their competition and set themselves up to leave a lasting first impression.

Viewing a Hire as an Asset, Not an Expense

August 27, 2024

It costs time and money to find the right candidate. How do you make the shift from looking at the cost of a new hire to seeing the opportunity for growth that they bring?

Inspection Insights: How to Stand Out with Sample Reports

August 13, 2024

By Jon McCreath, NPI, Inc.’s Technical & Training Director In any industry, success often comes from separating yourself from the pack. Some businesses have exceptional communication skills, prioritizing customer service above all else. Other business owners invest in a diverse array of add-ons, making them a convenient one-stop shop for their clients. Then, of course, veteran business owners might trust that the quality of their products and services will naturally trump all in the end. Dedicating your attention to becoming the best among your competition is an excellent goal, but proving yourself to clients takes work, too! We’ve talked about how to get more reviews by prioritizing Google business listings for better online searchability, but there is another powerful tool that too few home and property inspectors utilize: sample reports. Home inspectors who host a sample of their inspection report on their website can display the quality of their product for any prospective clients and answer many of their burning questions before they even pick up their phone. If you’d like to start using sample reports on your website but you’re not entirely sold on the concept yet, let’s review a few of the benefits and discuss some of the

Expanding Your Audience by Becoming a Bilingual Business

July 30, 2024

New business owners often feel that they are racing to find a client base and develop trust with their local community. Finding leads, converting them into sales, and creating advocates to spread the word of all the good work that they do – the fight to gain credibility in a market takes plenty of guts and hard work. But after that growth slows, it can be difficult to find a new client base to tap into. Language barriers in diverse populations can limit a business’s market reach, posing a significant challenge. There’s certainly an opportunity to expand by becoming a bilingual business, but making this change involves more than simply translating a flyer into Spanish and calling it a day. Owners who learn a second language or hire employees with language skills may be able to grow their business, but that’s only the start of the story. If you’re wondering what it would look like to start marketing in a second language as a small business, here are a few of the considerations to take into account first. Learning a Second LanguageOne strategy that business owners may consider if they’d like to start marketing in multiple languages is to learn

Franchise Planning: The Importance of an Exit Strategy

July 16, 2024

Without proper planning and vetting, businesses can get mismatched to new owners with the wrong industry knowledge, the wrong skills set, and the wrong expectations.

Keeping Up to Date as an Entrepreneur

July 2, 2024

By Jon McCreath, NPI, Inc.’s Technical Supervisor & Training Administrator When running a business, owners work extremely hard to find their unique strategy for consistent success. Winning over a share of the market takes time and plenty of energy, but one common pitfall that entrepreneurs frequently encounter is losing that initial fire to learn and experiment. Too often, professionals find a comfortable place in their industry and then fall further and further behind while competition follows trends and implements what works into their businesses. So, what’s the solution? How do small business owners stay up to date in their industry? In the home inspection industry, some may point towards licensing requirements in each state as a solution, but this doesn’t resolve the problem for a couple of reasons: Ultimately, keeping up to date with your industry has to start with an internal desire to improve your services and elevate your business. Required courses will not cut it! So, for any property inspectors out there who want to keep their business practices and their personal knowledge on the cutting edge, let’s discuss a few of the top strategies. 5 Ways to Stay Up to Date in the Home Inspection Industry 1.

Ranking Up: Debunking the Service Area Myth on Google

June 18, 2024

By Zach Vesper, NPI, Inc.’s Senior SEO and Marketing Strategist As a multi-national property inspection franchisor, our marketing team gets a lot of questions about how to increase ranking on Google. Of course every small business’ marketing efforts should be multi-faceted, with a mixture of in-person relationship-building efforts and digital campaigns. With that said, there is no question that Google is king for digital marketing, and that all starts with optimizing your Google Business Profile. There are many features on a Google Business page that can be utilized to improve visibility and ranking, but we commonly see people turn to their service areas for answers. Many business owners seem to think that slight changes to the service area field could create the presence bump they need in certain areas. But we’re here to say that this probably won’t be the solution to any Google ranking frustrations. To better understand why this is the case, let’s discuss what service areas actually are, how they should be properly set up, and which strategies are the real secret for ranking up on Google. Defining Service Area BusinessesGoogle Business Profiles can be created for free and are broadly set up in one of two

Game Plan for Growth: Stop Selling & Start Making Connections

June 4, 2024

By Kimberly Stevens, NPI, Inc.’s Marketing & Business Coach People become entrepreneurs for many different reasons, whether it’s the freedom to control their schedule, the direct impact they have on their business growth, or the prospect for financial independence. For many, “being your own boss” can be a career goal all by itself. However, despite the benefits, there are aspects of business ownership that can be intimidating as well. One challenging aspect that comes up again and again? Sales. Despite your skillset or previous experience, the need to sell yourself, your products, and your services can stop you in your tracks. Maybe you don’t think you’re charismatic enough, or the thought of selling things feels deceptive, selfish, or “slimy.”. The truth is, though, that “sales” has a worse reputation than it deserves (maybe thanks to one or two too many pushy telemarketers or sales clerks). Whether you’re extroverted or introverted, everyone has a unique way to relate to people so that they can become effective “salespeople” and set their business goals in the right trajectory, in a way that’s actually enjoyable. So, to all future entrepreneurs out there: stop selling. Instead, let’s discuss how important it is to invest in

Is Social Media the Right Platform for Political Commentary by Your Small Business?

May 21, 2024

By Michael Trimble, NPI, Inc.’s Content Marketing Coordinator You probably haven’t noticed, but 2024 is an election year! Okay, so maybe you have noticed. In the midst of heavy polarization, heated disagreements, and the general anxiety that comes with national elections, it’s understandable if you want to distance yourself from the political dialogue sometimes. Navigating political discussions in your personal life can be tough, but small business veterans understand how much trickier it can be in the professional sector. Despite this, many feel compelled to jump on social media and add their two cents, either on their personal profiles or through their business pages. The temptation is clear. As a small business owner, you’ve worked hard to build your social media following. Now that you have a platform with people interested in what you have to say, it can seem natural to use it for everything. Some business owners may feel it’s their social responsibility to speak about a particular topic, while others argue they’re exercising their rights. Some may even argue that staying silent is a statement in itself. Before you hit send on your next political post using your small business as a platform, here are a few