Syl Wilson Marketing Chosen as the Prime for a New Website

Recently, Prep Academy which is a part of the Denver Public School District, requested Syl Wilson Marketing to redesign their school website and refresh their school logo. We met their needs and are supporting the website monthly with maintenance and updates. We are PROUD to have worked on this project and look forward to a long partnership with the district.

View the site online here: https://prepacademy.dpsk12.org/

What is customer loyalty?

View original article as seen on HubSpot

Did you know it costs five times more to acquire new customers than it does to retain current customers?

And did you know existing customers are 50% more likely to try a new product of yours as well as spend 31% more than new customers?

Whether or not you currently have a loyalty program that encourages your customers to return and conduct more business with you, the above statistics clearly show the importance and impact of a successful customer loyalty program.

So…What is Customer Loyalty?

Customer loyalty is a customer’s willingness to repeatedly return to a company to conduct business. This is typically due to the delightful and remarkable experiences they have with that brand.

One of the main reasons to promote customer loyalty is because those customers can help you grow your business faster than your sales and marketing teams. There are a number of other reasons why customer loyalty is critical to your success.

Why is customer loyalty important?

Customer loyalty is something all companies should aspire to simply by virtue of their existence: The point of starting a for-profit company is to attract and keep happy customers who buy your products to drive revenue.

Customers convert and spend more time and money with the brands to which they’re loyal. These customers also tell their friends and colleagues about those brands, too which drives referral traffic and word-of-mouth marketing.

Customer loyalty also…..click to view full article

Side Hustle vs. Start Up Business

I have had so many friends and people who work for clients reach out to me and ask me “How did you get your business started? I really want to do the same thing, but have no clue what my business would be or how to do it, I just know that I was not meant to work for anyone.”

Cue all of the books related to “Working your passion.” It’s so cliche, but it is also so true. If you could do anything in the world right now – what would it be? If you could get paid for that, would you be working or having fun? When you can find a way to have fun every day rather than feel like you are working, that is how you’ll know if you indeed are “working your passion.”

Next is to figure out if your passion is something that the rest of the world needs (and that you can earn a nice living from). Sometimes it is better to start the process from a stand point of what do I know how to do that very few others know how to do and that I excel in. For instance, does your passion solve a problem that people in your community need? In my case, I worked in a marketing department in the manufacturing industry that had a target audience consisting mostly of men who hunt, fish and like guns. So my designs reflected that but I knew I could reach so many more industries if I had a chance. One of the areas that I kept hearing friends and colleagues mention that they wished they could afford was a website. I frequently designed what we referred to as “micro sites” which consisted of 5-10 pages of online mini websites. Once one of my mentors told me that my work was on or with large design firms, it got my wheels spinning. I didn’t immediately jump at the opportunity but after my husband was laid off from a job he worked for almost two decades, I knew I had to do something to offset the change in income. So I asked my doctor if he would like a new website designed free of charge (They say when you find something you are willing to do for free – you’ve mastered the ability to work your passion – however, I didn’t realize immediately that I was doing just that). My doctor said yes and then paid me $500 for the work. At the time, I tried to refuse the money, but my doctor insisted. I mentioned to my mentor what had happened and she told me I was crazy to only charge $500. When I told her, “but it’s so easy for me! I can’t possibly charge people for something that is easy and makes me that happy!” To which she replied, ” Do you honestly think it’s easy? Could your doctor have made it himself? Can you do what your doctor does easily? No – so you need to charge accordingly and get jazzed about your new work.” Wow – I still was hesitant, but I decided to do what the self help books told me. I leaned in and decided to ask people if they needed a website. I’d ask anyone who would listen and the next thing I knew I was designing a website for George Mason University College of Science. It was the largest website I had done yet and the fun part was that I got to do it in my spare time. It didn’t take me very long and the client told me it was the easiest migration of a web project they had ever done with a consultant, I continued to do this for about 8 years before I went full-time with my marketing firm. YOU can do this too! Start small, providing a service as a “side hustle” until you build a client list that can earn more income than your current job and viola!! You have a business that is more like a hobby that can earn you money to get you what you need in life.

 

What’s important is to LEAN IN when that moment comes. What that means is when you have the idea in your head that may be something you can turn into a business that can generate money, you need to grab it and start writing down all of  your thoughts. Eventually this will help when working on your business plan. Some of the early ideas usually have the best ones.

Stay tuned for more tips on how to live your passion. I will try to give more tips each month that I learned along the way. When you start, be sure to share your stories with me in the comments or by emailing us at sylwilson@sylwilsonmarketing.com

We can’t wait to hear about all of your success!

Stand For Something in Business or Fall for Anything

A recent article posted in Marketing Week about Ben & Jerry’s and Levi reminds us in Business that if you do not stand for something, you will fall for anything. Having core values for your business is important and should tie into your mission statement, but what are you really doing for the community at large?

Check out how they drill down to the core values and continue to be profitable organizations.

Why a Website Is A Must in 2018

In today’s age of digital marketing and almost every target audience using the internet for information, it is imperative that every business has a website. Yet we come across at least ten businesses a week that have been operating without a website and have seen a slowing trend in sales. Sounds crazy right?

If you are one of the 10 in 100 that are trying to market your business without an online presence,  I would highly recommend reading the rest of this article on the growing importance of web design in 2018.

Key points to keep in mind as you decide on a website developer:

Responsive Web Design

In order for your website to appear over all platforms (Mobile vs. Laptop vs. Tablet) you will want to make sure that your website developer is quoting you a responsive website that automatically adjusts based on the device that opens it. Responsive website rank higher in search engines than those that are only optimized for desktops. Additionally, as of December 2015 according to comScore, there was an 80% increase in Internet usage coming from smart phones rather than desktop machines.

Search Engine Optimization

If your website developer/designer is well versed ini search engine optimization, that is a PLUS! If not, you will want to make sure you get a proposal from a reputable company that provides that as a service. In the old days, website designers would load the back-ends of website with keywords that would cause search engine spiders to stop on a site regardless of what content was actually on the website. The evolution of technology however, search engines have become much smarter and will only index on websites that have rich content that is relative to the main purpose of the website.

Clean Designs

As you research the right webs design company to use, be sure to look at their previous work. That may sound like a “given,” but you do want to make sure they have designed in several different type of platforms. If they only know how to design in WordPress for instance, then they will be more likely to push your design that way. But if they are experienced in several platforms like Joomla, Drupal, Light CMS, WordPress and hard code, then you will have a better chance at getting a website that is a good fit for your organization. You will also want to make sure that they are using designs that are not just a template, but are custom to each of the companies they designed for. Several website designers only take a template (or theme) and change out photos and content. You want to make sure that your company is being properly branded to your existing marketing collateral so that people can see your website as your online home or brochure. It should be an extension of the marketing brochures and flyers that you have already passed out.

These are just a few tips to get you started as you navigate your way through getting your company online in 2018!

Have a Facebook Business Page? Do This Now!

Do you have a Facebook Business Page? If so, you should be sure to have at least one other person as an administrator that works for your company or that you trust.

Recently, a client of Syl Wilson Marketing called because they lost access to their personal Facebook account for various reasons. They wanted to know if we still had access to the company Facebook page because they could not access it any longer and were forced to create a new personal Facebook page. Fortunately, we were still tied to that business account and were able to add them to the page with their new account. This is a valuable lesson to anyone who has a business account!

Always be sure to have at least one other person tied to any social media accounts, in particular Facebook and LinkedIn.

New E-Commerce Website Launched for Syl’s Art – Sylvester Peebles

Several months ago, the most important client of my life asked me to design a website to showcase his art collection. It was my hero, my father! How could I say no? My dad, Sylvester Peebles, has been drawing and painting for as long as I’ve been alive. He has had artwork showcased in the St. Louis Art Museum and won first place in several art shows over the past few decades. One funny story he shared with me was the time he and my sister entered the same contest for art, (I think it was the Creve Coeur Days art show) and he said that he won second place and my sister (who would have been about 7 years-old) won first place. The only issue with that was first place won $100 and second place won a ribbon. My sister was crying because she did not want money; she wanted the ribbon. Ah to be young again.

Back to the original point of this post. My dad asked me to design

Social Media For Business

Recently I was chatting with a client who was against social media for her business. I asked why and she told me the following:

1. It’s too much work
2. I don’t want to have to always post photos and personal things
3. It’s unprofessional to have anything other than a LinkedIn page

I was happy to know that she at least saw value in LinkedIn. When she told me that she wanted more exposure at a low cost however, I had to let her in on some of the biggest bang you can get for your buck…which happens to be social media platforms.

With social media you can really leverage your products using your blog on your website just as I am right now. Showcasing your products (or knowledge) will prove to your buyers that they should choose your company over the next one. If your company mostly provides a “service” then you can still do this by using your blog to write articles that prove that you know what you are talking about. Simply sharing information about those services or tips to help your consumers will increase traffic to your site immediately. How you leverage those articles is through social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

It’s important to note, that having a

Being Successful After The Age of 40 Is Possible

I started Syl Wilson Marketing full-time at the age of 41. Age is nothing but a number when it comes to becoming an entrepreneur and that can be seen with so many success stories as in the article below. If you are considering making a ‘go’ at living your dreams, I highly encourage you to do so. There is nothing else like it!

From the Business Insider:

For the more neurotic among us, a birthday can be a reminder of how another year has passed and our loftiest aspirations have faded further into the distance.

There are plenty of examples, however, of successful people across many industries who prove that you don’t need to have it all figured out by the time you turn 30. Read the full story here…

SMEs MUST invest in Digital Marketing or face untimely extinction

entrepreneurshipclassified

Marketing is undoubtedly one of the major driving force that propels a business to continous success, it’s never all about money that you have to spend on marketing but time and effort are major resources towards providing what the “king” mostly requires. A survey by constant contact study an email marketing provider showed that only 34% of small businesses are planning to invest money on marketing although they are aware that marketing is key, they does alot of time consuming tasks such as store operations, stock keeping among others. This clearly shows that alot of SMEs haven’t been prioritizing on marketing but are slowly changing the direction due to the increased competition.
Time has changed and businesses have shifted more effort to digital marketing but SMEs are still lagging back due to financial constraints and limited focus on marketing budget,this should not be case anymore for their guaranteed survival. This…

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