Listen Up! Tracking software and services can alert you to what customers are saying about your business on social networks, blogs, and other social media. These tracking techniques offer steps beyond Google Alerts to keep you informed.

A few weeks ago, a Twitter user tweeted that she was planning to try Zitune, a restaurant in Los Altos, Calif. David Auerbach, the restaurant’s co-owner got an e-mail alert from a Web-based service Trackle, calling his attention to the tweet. As he often does, he sent a response thanking her for visiting Zitune and asking how she’d liked it. Soon, they had a dialogue going. Then she asked if Zitune’s chef (and Auerbach’s brother-in-law) would like to be interviewed for her video blog.

As social networking sites grow in popularity it is becoming more and more crucial to monitor any online mentions of your brand. You can use these methods to take advantage of opportunities to connect with satisfied clients who can become advocates for your services and products (as in the above example). You can also connect with clients who are dissatisfied before negative publicity grows and damages the public’s perception of your brand. An excellent example of why this can be valuable is the massive amount of bad buzz and negative publicity caused by United Airline’s handling of one angry customer’s request for replacement of a broken guitar (story HERE).

The method you choose to monitor mentions of your company is less important than having a system in place that ensures you are aware of it when your company is being discussed online.

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It seems that sometimes when people are talking they forget where they are. Or they get so engrossed in the conversation that they don’t realize who may be near.

As new technology enters the mainstream it is easy to make it part of your life without thinking about the consequences of that new technology on interpersonal relationships. This is true for both business and personal relationships. Most of the tips are pretty common-sense but it’s never a bad thing to be reminded of how things we are not thinking about can influence our interactions with other people.

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If you’re one of the many people in business for whom writing has never been a major concern, you should know that a lack of writing skills is a greater and greater handicap with every passing year. Spending some time to improve your writing can result in a marked improvement in your hireability and promotional prospects.

At MyNewCompany we are always looking for ways to improve our communications skills. Whether we are responding to client email requests or live chats using our Support System, posting entries on Social Media Sites or creating new content for our site there is no such thing as “good enough” when it comes to communicating with our clients or potential clients. Constantly working towards improved communication methods is also a great step to include when developing your Marketing & Sales Strategy!

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1. Obsess Over Customers (not competitors)
2. Invent (figure out solutions)
3. Think Long Term
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Every business should operate with a set of plans – a plan for the business, a plan for cash, a plan for growth, and certainly a plan for marketing. Opening a business with no plan is kind of like driving somewhere you’ve probably never been without a map or GPS device.

The article is full of useful tips and tricks for adopting the best possible marketing plan, as well as pitfalls to avoid when developing your plan.

Before beginning the development of your Marketing Plan it is important to understand the difference between Marketing and Sales. We’ve made this easy! Just visit our page on Marketing & Sales. The page also lists helpful resources for developing an effective Marketing Plan and Sales Strategy.

Of course the first step when developing your Business Idea is to create a Business Plan. A properly written business plan will make it much easier to develop a marketing plan and implement your sales strategy.

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The initial step is to recognize the reality. What results do you achieve in your business? Yes, you created patterns of behavior (systems) that you’ve followed in order to achieve a degree of business success. You pride yourself on your abilities. You enjoy the fact that in your growing organization, nobody has the same personal touch with the customers that you have. I mentioned rainmaker status above, for often this is how this pride in the personal touch shows up; you feel recognized and special for your personal ability to achieve great results.

The trick is to create a system that allows replication of these personal touches even when you are not there to provide them. Once such a system is in place you can concentrate on the work of growing your business instead of getting bogged down in the day-to-day routine of client service.

At MyNewCompany we believe that the E-Myth System works! We provide our clients with a general overview of the process of Automating your Business so that they can free themselves up to grow the business, and can even take a real vacation without having to worry that their clients’ experience will suffer during their absence!

The E-Myth system works so well that we have made it our top pick on our Recommended Business Books & Software page.

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Anyone who claims to have built something of lasting value–be it a business, personal relationship or a body of critical knowledge–without suffering serious pain and disappointment is either a liar or dangerously naïve. At some point on your journey, you will stumble and fall.

As the article mentions only 45% of startups make it to their 4th anniversary. In today’s troubled economic climate the challenges faced by new businesses are even greater. What separates successful entrepreneurs from the crowd is not a lack of failures, but the resiliency to pick themselves up and try again when things don’t go as planned.

Of course, when starting a new venture it is always worthwhile to do everything you can to increase your odds of success. Two great ways to do this are by adopting a properly written Business Plan and Automating Your Business. Franchises have a much, much higher success rate than general business startups, so Automating your Business to make it run like a franchise will give you an advantage over other companies that have not taken this crucial step.

If you enjoy our blog posts just visit our Free Tools & Resources page to follow us on social media or subscribe to our free monthly newsletter!

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In the early days of a startup company, the founders can rely on excitement and adrenaline to get the ball rolling. However, when the well of excitement and adrenaline goes dry, that ball suddenly feels extremely heavy. How do you go about staying excited about your startup?

This post discusses how having a plan can help maintain excitement and keep you engaged with your business. At MyNewCompany.com we always recommend that you develop a business plan before moving into the startup process. We have a Page on Business Plans that assists with this process. A properly written business plan will force you to check your assumptions and will help you begin the process of Automating Your Business so that you can focus on developing your business instead of getting bogged down in day-to-day routines. It’s always easier to stay excited when you can see the big picture!

If you enjoy our blog posts you can also follow us on Twitter and Facebook or subscribe to our Free Monthly Newsletter. To begin following us just use the links at the bottom of This Page.

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Over the course of several weeks, we accepted your tips via email, Twitter and in comments to the original post. We asked readers to simply answer one of the following 6 questions:
-Getting Started: How would you suggest other small businesses get started on Twitter?
-Smart Marketing: What’s the right way (or wrong way) to promote your business on Twitter?
-Observing Etiquette: What is your #1 Twitter etiquette tip for small business owners?
-Spreading Your Message: What is your best tip for getting re-tweeted?
-Time Management: How do you manage your time on Twitter?
-Advanced Strategies: What is your best kept secret (something not widely known) for using Twitter in business?

There are quite a few useful tips included in the list. The list is also a great introduction to the medium for those who are just getting started with Social Media (Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, etc.).

Promotion through Social Media is just one part of developing your overall Marketing Strategy. For a good overview of the Marketing process (including a definition of the difference between Sales and Marketing functions) you can check out Our Page on Marketing and Sales.

We don’t just blog about it – we are also active on Twitter and Facebook. To follow our Social Media feeds just use the links on This Page.

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