What I did on my summer vacation...

We can feel it coming in the air . . . Summertime!  The season brings a slowdown to many businesses, as thoughts turn to vacations and weekend picnics, rather than emails and to-do lists.

Lazy summer days mean less meetings, relaxed deadlines, and a general acceptance that people are enjoying some down time. Take advantage of this period to grow your business. How?  Try tackling some of the projects below and see results blossom.

Website

Give your website a facelift.  Make sure you have the most recent and correct information on it.  Consider how the site is optimized for mobile devices.  Freshen the images; add a seasonal graphic here and there to keep the site relevant. Make sure the site links to all of your social media accounts.

Social Media

Determine which social mediums are best for your business.  Learn how they work.  Research tools that make ongoing social media management easier throughout the year.

Start a simple e-mail newsletter.  They keep your name and any specials or news in front of prospects and customers.

Write.  Document some ideas for blogs, newsletters, and social media postings.  Map them out in an editorial calendar to prepare for busier months.  Build an archive of content so you aren't trying to churn ideas on a daily basis throughout the year.

Filing and Organization

Do some summer cleaning and get organized.  Clutter creeps into businesses and drains energy.  Reorganize paper files and computer files.  Update software and run virus scans.  Delete old programs.  Archive material and files you no longer need. Clean your e-mail folders.

Business Planning

Map out your strategy for business direction, marketing plans and business goals for the remainder of the year. Reflect on what has worked, what needs to be improved, and what you are going to do next.

Do something nice for your employees.  Have a potluck/recipe contest, decorate the work area for the 4th of July, or bring in ice cream and toppings for a surprise afternoon sundae bar.  Consider an off-site planning meeting that includes a fun activity for attendees. 

Update any emergency procedures.  Ensure you have back-ups that work.  Store key documents in a safe place.  Check insurance coverages and emergency contact lists.  

Training

Acquire new skills.  Use the summer to learn new software, take a finance class, or improve your marketing efforts.

Networking

Find ways to give business to others during this slow period. Fewer people at networking events means a better chance of forming solid relationships.  

Enter that stack of business cards on your desk into a useable database or spreadsheet. 

Reconnect wth your best contacts.  Working with trusted colleagues is a good way to gain ideas, share resources, and grow your business.

Take your customers out!  Treat your best customers to a cookout at a local park, a day at a winery, or charter a boat for an afternoon of fishing. Whatever you choose, your clients will surely appreciate the gesture.

Marketing and Promotions 

Take part in summer festivals and fairs.  Identify events that are a good fit for your business and have a track record of success.  Sponsoring or participating is great for your brand and can introduce you to new and potential customers.

Run a contest.  Summer is supposed to be fun, after all.  Contests make for great publicity.  Brainstorm with employees to come up with ideas.  Tie the prize to something that incentivizes people to frequent your business.

Refresh your marketing materal.  Look at your business cards, brochures, profiles, and signage.  Update for maximum impact.

Still dreaming of that extended vacation? Let us know; our team can tackle these projects and more while you enjoy some much-needed down time.

Is your website optimized for mobile devices?

Mobile optimized websites are designed for the small screen, with the needs of mobile users in mind.  According to Google, users expect their mobile experience to be as good as their desktop experience.

A mobile-friendly site can help your business connect with customers and increase sales, but a bad mobile experience can drive customers to the competition.

According to Gartner, among the world's leading informationtechnology research and advisory companies, by 2013 more people will use mobile phones than PCs to get online.  But if someone is looking for your company, what will they find?

Click here for a Google tool that will show how your website looks on a smartphone.  For a full report on how mobile-friendly your site is, use the W3C mobileOK Checker.  Enter the URL to test; it will show whether your website is mobile-ready or not, and make recommendations on how to rectify issues.

Need to make some changes? Here are some tips for identifying and implementing the best strategy for your business.

First, ask yourself:

• Who is using your site?
• What are users doing when they get there?
• Where are they accessing the site from?
• When do they look for your site?
• Why do users come to your site?

   

Now, make the most needed information from your website prominent and accessible.  Here are a few things to consider as you re-design:

Keep download time in mind.  Avoid background images and combine smaller images into a single file. 

Go from "clickable" to "tappable."  Use whitespace and chunky buttons to be surre that tappable elements can be easily pressed with a finger.  Remember, there is no "hover" on a mobile device.  Hover states on a desktop site need to be re-worked for mobile.

Optimize for vertical scrolling.  Single-column layouts usually work best.  It helps for managing limited space on the small screen, and also allows scaling between different device resolutions and flipping between portrait and landscape mode.

Think in collapsible terms.  Stack chunks of large content in folding modules that allow the user to tap open the content they're interested in and hide the rest.  Check out the mobile site for Major League Baseball.  At the top of the page is a button labeled "Teams."  Tapping this extends the page, listing the 30 teams vertically in the single-column page.  

Provide interaction feedback.  Give users obvious feedback about actions that are occurring.  For example, it's common to see a white-colored link turn fully blue on the iPhone when tapped.  Use animated loading images to indicate something is in progress.

Want expert help? Give us a call; we'll develop and implement a web strategy accessible to all users, regardless of device.   

Growing Your Business with Social Media

Social Media . . .

• Lets you build hundreds of thousands of online relationships.  One-on-one conversations via social nedia channels allow for extremely personalized service unmatched by other marketing channels.
• Helps you reach the end-user of your product or service.
• B2B organizations can acquire customers via Social Media.  65% have acquired a client through Linked In; 40% through Twitter; 43% through Facebook.
• Conversely, Facebook drives the most customer conversions for B2C organizations.  77% of B2C companies have caquired a customers through Facebook, and 51% have acquired a customer through Linked In. 
• More than 80% of Gen Y, the largest consumer group in history, is influenced by user-generated content when considering a purchase.  51% of them rated it more important than the opinions of their friends and family.
• Improves your website's search engine optimization (SEO) by increasing your organic search presence.  Google's algorithm has swayed more and more toward rewarding websites that create stellar content for readers, not search engines.
• Blogging and creating other content containing keywords mportant to your business will better optimize your website.
• Repurposing content across several networks allows you to grow a following across multiple channels.

Social Media Management Program

Ideal Lifestyle Concierge will manage your social media strategy:

• Account setup and maintenance
• Creation of content
• Data entry and database maintenance

There is a setup fee to get started, followed by an ongoing maintenance fee based on your specific needs.  We are a one stop shop; allowing you to define your level of involvement in the process.

A Social Media Primer

Social media is about interacting with and sharing information with others online.  Social media allows users to become part of a virtual community.  Today's most influential media are outlined below:

Facebook

A company Facebook page allows informal communication with Facebook "fans". It also allows "fans" to communicate with you and share their experiences (good and bad). Companies can share photos, videos, and links. They are also able to invite "fans" to special events.

Google+

Google+ is similar to Facebook. However, is also linked to Google recommendations. Google recently began ranking companies much like Zagats ranks restaurants. The rankings are highly searchable. The majority of users use Google to search the web.

Twitter

Twitter enables users to send and read short (140 characters) posts known as "tweets". It allows more informal communication with "followers" than Facebook and Google+. Twitter is the one of the top 10 most visited websites on the Internet.

Blogger & WordPress

Blogger & WordPress are tools to compose and post longer communications such as blogs, articles, newsletters, podcasts, and press releases.

Constant Contact

Constant Contact allows users to create and send newsletters, surveys, events, coupons, offers, etc. to your database of clients and prospects. The service provides information on how many users are actually opening emails and what they are specifically clicking on (links). The information helps users to customize communication strategies. Constant Contact also provides a tool to create a weekly digest of social media posts. This digest can be e-mailed to a contact database, encouraging additional interaction across multiple channels.

Pinterest

Pinterest is a social network that allows users to visually share, curate, and discover new interests by pinning new images or videos to their own or others' pinboards. Members are encouraged to interact with the content by reposting it, sharing others' pins on Facebook and Twitter or via e-mail, and even embedding individual pins on their website or blog.

Linked In

LinkedIn is the world's largest professional network with over 175 million members and growing rapidly. LinkedIn connects you to your trusted contacts and helps you exchange knowledge, ideas, and opportunities with a broader network of professionals. LinkedIn profiles rise to the top of search results, letting you control the first impression people get when searching for you online.

Need to Know More?  Check out this episode of Chick Talk where I discuss social media management.  The discussion starts at about 16:00 minutes. 

Pin It! Making Pinterest Work for You

Pinterest is growing in popularity as the hottest new social network. And yet, people frequently tell us, "I just don’t get Pinterest."

According to Compete, a clickstream data provider, unique visitors to Pinterest.com increased by 155% in one month, from December 2011 to January 2012. In December 2011, Pinterest made Hitwise’s list of top ten social networks, sitting at #5 and beating out big names like LinkedIn and Google+. Hitwise delivers reports on internet usage from the world’s largest sample of online consumers.

So what’s going on? Below, we’ve compiled some basic information for you about the Pinterest phenomenon, and how you can start taking part in it.

What is Pinterest?

Pinterest is a social network that allows users to visually share, curate, and discover new interests by pinning new images or videos to their own or others’ pinboards. Members are encouraged to interact with the content by reposting it, sharing others’ pins on Facebook and Twitter or via email, and even embedding individual pins on their website or blog.

Pinterest defines itself as a social network meant to "connect everyone in the world through the ‘things’ they find interesting. " There is a visual emphasis, and the social network is very much focused on the concept of a person’s lifestyle. It enables you to share your interests and preferences with others and discover those of like-minded people. 

How does Pinterest connect you to potential customers?

Any business that relies on driving a high-volume of website traffic to increase sales should consider joining Pinterest. Using the Pin It button on your pages ensures that every single one of your pins includes a link back to the source.  So, pinners can encounter your content and visit your pages in just one click.

When members are browsing through pins, they also have the ability to share posts through Facebook, Twitter, or e-mail. This feature is great to boost social sharing and get fans and followers to spread the word about your brand.

Where do I find Pinterest?

Pinterest operates on an invitation-only basis. You can ask a friend with an account to invite you or request an invite directly from  www.Pinterest.com.

How can I start marketing with Pinterest? What should I put on the Pinboard?

• Add the Pinterest follow button to your website. Promote your presence on Pinterest through your other social networks, such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+, and Twitter. 
• Consider launching a Pinterest contest and write a blog post to promote it. 
• Feature visual content. Often, the biggest challenge for B2B companies wishing to use Pinterest as a marketing channel is a lack of visual content. So, use the content you already have—

Infographics with industry data.

Pictures of your customers’ smiling faces.

Headshots of your company executives, or pictures from the last firm mixer.

Videos of experts at your firm speaking at industry conferences and events.

• Start using clear beautiful images in your blog articles with the point of pinning them to pinboards.
• Host a contest asking users to create a pinboard on their own account to demonstrate what they love about your brand, products, or services. 
• Become the go-to Pinterest account for pins about a certain subject or topic relating to your industry. 
• Add links in the descriptions of your pins to drive traffic back to your website.
• Use hashtags to tag pins and make content more search-friendly.

Where can I find examples of great Pinboards?

Check out the accounts for Chobani, Oreck, Mashable, and General Electric for some super ideas on how to implement Pinterest as part of your company’s marketing strategy. 

I get it now. How do I get help?

Think you’d like to integrate Pinterest into your firm’s Social Networking strategy, but need a little more help to get started? Contact us at Ideal Lifestyle Concierge. Call 305-371-0077, or e-mail CustomerService@IdealLifestyleConcierge.com.

Looking for Summer Fun?

We live in a destination location, and summertime offers South Floridians a great opportunity to enjoy all the area has to offer.

Take advantage of the season's slower pace, reduced traffic, and special discounts to plan a season of memorable outings with family and friends. Let the list below get your creative juices flowing.

Don't have time to plan a vacation or staycation? Call Ideal Lifestyle Concierge at 305-371-0077 to help you plan! Our team will recommend the best restaurants and events, make your reservations, secure your tickets, and even help you plan for out of town guests. We look forward to hearing from you!



Miami
Romance Month (June 1 to 30)
Kiss me in Miami . . . visit www.MiamiAndBeaches.com/program/romance/
to discover the four steps to love with a romantic escape in Miami.


Spa Miami (July 1 to August 31)
Greater Miami and the Beaches is renowned for luxury spas that are ranked among the "Best Spas in America," and are the favorites of spa connoisseurs throughout the world. During Spa Miami, enjoy special treatments for $99 at Miami's premier spas. www.MiamiSpaMonth.com


Miami Spice (August 1 to September 30)
Miami Spice is a mouth-watering restaurant promotion showcasing the very best of Miami cuisine. Top restaurants offer three-course meals (Lunch $22, Dinner $35) featuring signature dishes created by world-renowned chefs. Discover the tropical fusion of ingredients that makes Miami dining so wonderfully out of the ordinary. An epicure's paradise awaits you! For more on these restaurants and fine dining in Miami, visit www.ILoveMiamiSpice.com


Fort Lauderdale 
Super Summer Savings (May 1 to September 30)
Discover a passion for diving. Charter a fishing boat for an afternoon adventure. Spend the day relaxing and revitalizing at the spa. It's all part of a vacation that goes beyond the ordinary. Discover another side of summer and yourself in Greater Fort Lauderdale. Find unique two-for-one offers to get your personal journey started; visit http://www.Sunny.org/SuperSummer/
   
BAMM (June 1 to 30)
Broward Attractions and Museums Month (BAMM) kicks off June 1. Discover 16 local museums, unique attractions and cultural centers for the price of one membership. During the month of June members of any one of the 16 cultural institutions in Broward County, and South Palm Beach County receive free general admission to all participating venues. Begin the cultural tour by visiting www.BAMMinfo.org


Spa Chic (September 1 to 30)
It feels so good to be pampered. So this fall, take a moment - or an hour, or a day - for yourself during Lauderdale Spa Chic. Greater Fort Lauderdale's most sublime resort spas invite you to indulge in luxury for less. Restore yourself with the full Spa Chic treatment - aromatherapy massage, facial, loofah scrub and reflexology - all for just $99 (a 50% savings). Start the journey to relaxation at http://Sunny.org/SpaChic

Is Live Music Alive In Miami?

Miami is full of options to have a good time. So, instead of going to the same old place why not support your local live music scene. While this is not an all inclusive list by any means, it’s a place to start. This is not an endorsement of these locations since everyone has their own personal taste in music. Surf the websites, find out what other people are saying, ask your friends and then take a chance and check one out. You may even find your new favorite local band. One word of warning, some of these venues are located in neighborhood that for lack of a better description have a lot of “character” or “characters” may be the better word. So make sure you know were your going and stay safe.

The Setai: 2001 Collins Avenue, Miami Beach, Phone: (305) 520-6000
The tranquil and beautiful setting of the bar & courtyard is perfect for a Jazz Night under the stars. Every Thursday evening, local and national jazz musicians and vocalists perform live, playing classic, Latin, and smooth jazz.
Website: http://www.setai.com/dining/thebarandcourtyard

The Stage: 170 NE 38 St, Miami, 33137, Phone: (305) 576-9577
Relatively new live music venue (opened this year) located in the heart of the Design District. Chosen by the Miami New Times Best of Miami 2011 as The Best New Venue for Live Music.
Blog: http://www.thestagemiami.blogspot.com/
Miami.com article: http://www.miami.com/the-stage-article

Soyka: 5556 NE 4th Court 55th Street Station Miami, FL 33137, Phone: (305) 759-3117
Restaurant, bar and lounge - Soyka offers live jazz on Fridays and Saturdays from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. without a cover charge. Come early and check out the mussels (in my opinion the best in Miami) and ask for extra bread for sopping up the delicious creamy broth.
Website: http://www.soykalivejazz.com/

Grand Central: 697 N Miami Ave, Miami, FL, Phone: (305) 377-2277
Chosen by the Miami New Times Best of Miami 2011 issue as the Best Live Music Venue. Grand Central has distinguished itself in the Miami nightlife scene by providing a mid-size d music venue where you can both enjoy live-music and party your heart out like you were smack in the middle of South Beach.
Website: http://www.grandcentralmiami.com/

Hoy Como Ayer: 2212 SW 8th Street, Miami, FL 33135. Phone: (305) 541-2631
Featuring Cuban/ Latin music by both local and international artists. Located in the heart of Little Havana. You may even run into a celebrity.
Website: http://www.hoycomoayer.us/
Miami.com article: http://www.miami.com/hoy-como-ayer

The Florida Room: 1685 Collins Avenue, Miami Beach, FL 33139, Phone: (305) 674-6152
Located in the beautiful Delano Hotel in South Beach. Live music and DJs spinning in a modern day piano lounge complete with a Lucite grand piano. Call ahead for live music schedule.
Website: http://www.delano-hotel.com/en-us/#/explore/?id=floridaroom

Tobacco Road: 626 South Miami Avenue, Miami, FL 33130, Phone: (305) 374-1198
Miami’s oldest bar featuring drink specials and live music every night. If you haven’t been here you have to try it at least once. Don’t expect any fancy digs but do expect a lot of local flair.
Website: http://www.tobacco-road.com

Transit Lounge: 729 SW 1st Avenue, Miami, FL 33130, Phone: (305) 377-4628
Indoor and outdoor stages featuring local bands – bar, pool table – all you need for a good time.
Website: http://www.transitlounge.us/

Here are some other venues offering live music: Churchill’s Pub, Bougainvilleas Old Florida Tavern, Mr. Moes, Jazzid, Van Dykes, Bardot, Blue Martini, Brickell Irish Pub, The Vagabond, Electric Pickle, The Bar.

Ideal Lifestyle Concierge can help you put together the perfect day or night out for your out of town guests, friends, family, clients or even that special someone. We can recommend locations, make special arrangements and even take care of the transportation. You just have to show up and take the credit.

Are you a magazine hoarder?

Magazine hoarders you know who you are. Do you read your magazines and then set them to the side just in case you want to access some information at a later date? Even in today's electronic media world, I personally still get excited when I receive a new glossy magazine in the mail box. Here are some tips to help you access the information and still reduce your magazine clutter around the house or office.

• As you are reading through the magazine tear or cut out the articles that you would like to reference or read at a future date.
• Scan the articles. If you don't have a scanner you can outsource this to a scanning company or Ideal Lifestyle Concierge can scan and organize your documents for you.
• Save the articles electronically by category. For example: Recipes, Fashion, Gifts, Technology, Finance, Parenting - you get the idea. I suggest that you save the date as part of the file name.
• The most important part - Get rid of the magazines and the clutter!

Ideal Lifestyle Concierge can help you organize and reduce stress and clutter in your life. For a free consultation please call us at 305-371-0077 or email us at CustomerService@IdealLifestyleConcierge.com.