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Mar 15
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The Small Business Comeback Guide for 2021

By Marketing, Small Business, Technology, Website No Comments
Here at Big Red Jelly, where we help brand, build, and grow your business by combining powerful digital tools with human creativity and customization. We work in a lot of different areas to help businesses do better business online. In this post, we’re going to touch on a big campaign that we’re doing to kick off 2021 to really help small businesses come back. We’re going to dive into easy-to-use tools or platforms that a lot of small businesses can use.
Two of these tools are mentioned in our 2021 Small Business Comeback Guide. This is a free eBook that our team has created to help small businesses come back this year. You can download the free PDF guide here. If something intrigues you, or if you have questions, schedule a free consultation with our team. There really are not any strings attached. We are on a mission to help small and local businesses bounce back this year and we have a really strong feeling that is going to happen.

Use Digital Tools

Let’s jump into one of the steps: use digital tools. Powerful digital tools to help your business grow or scale.

Housecall Pro

The first tool we will discuss is a little bit industry-specific, but there are many tools like this for various industries. This one here is called Housecall Pro. This is a tool that we often recommend for small businesses who are in the home services industry. If you
have a business model where you send technicians or professionals to the houses of your customers Housecall Pro is a tool that would fit your needs. This can include electricians, plumbers, HVAC, garage door installation, cleaners, people who do home cleaning, commercial cleaning, residential cleaning, or any other industry that required you to go to the location of the customer in order to complete your job. House Call Pro is also a tool Big Red Jelly has been partnered with for a long time. We know how to set this tool up. We know how to integrate it with your website and we can also get you a discount on the subscription. Win-win!
Firstly, in order for small businesses to really come back, we have to embrace digital. We have to embrace online. It can be overwhelming and scary. The biggest question or concern that we get from small business owners is they don’t even know where to get started. Concerns such as a platform to invoice, send meaningful reminders, do my bookings, send out review requests, schedule people online, integrate with my website, have a live chat on my website, or interact with my customers. These are at least half a dozen different digital platforms to learn how to use and sign up for. And sounds expensive. But that’s not always the case. There is great software like Housecall Pro platform that brings it all together and makes it very easy to use for small businesses. They even have a mobile app so you can manage your business on the go.
So what does Housecall Pro actually do? It can do scheduling, dispatching, invoicing, software, and more. Again, if you’re an electrician, plumber, or if you go and do salon work if you’re a hairdresser or babysitter, a tutor, this tool will work for you. You can also integrate a calendar onto your website so visitors can see when you’re available and book an appointment. You can also set up memberships or recurring jobs. In order for small and local businesses to succeed, we have to do a better job of finding that recurring revenue. So you might already be doing a great job of landing sales, selling a certain product, but you have to think outside the box and think, is there a way for me to make this a subscription, a membership, some type of recurring revenue stream for my business? It’s going to help you scale and grow. Let’s say you are a company and someone books one of your technicians for a job. They book your technician for Wednesday at two o’clock p.m. to come to a check-up on the furnace. You can also set reminders. You can set a reminder to go out 24 hours before to Becky who booked your technician that Bob is coming out to check on her furnace at this time. Then it will send out another reminder a couple of hours before. This is going to greatly mitigate no-shows or last-minute cancellations, which is going to save you a lot of money. Then after the appointment or the booking is complete, what happens? You need to collect payment. You can collect payment right there on your phone using Housecall Pro. You can also send an invoice via text or email that they can open up on their phone and pay right there and then with their preferred payment method. One of our favorite little automations is after the job is complete, they’ve paid, they get a review request. They get a text message that says, “Hi, Becky. How was your experience with Bob today? If you enjoyed your experience, please take 20 seconds and leave a review here.” Which would then link through to Google, Yelp, Facebook or whatever preferred site.
We are huge believers in automating these things, getting your invoices sent out, review requests sent, making booking seamless on your website, and can be tracked on your phone. All of this can be done through Housecall Pro for reasonable prices. If you’re a startup, solopreneur, all of those things combined for $49 a month. If you’re interested, Big Red Jelly can help you out. We can actually get you a discount as well as help you integrate these things with your website. There’s no real benefit for us to refer people to Housecall Pro other than we just really enjoy it and know how to use and integrate it with the websites that we build.
Although Housecall Pro is a little bit specific in terms of the business model that they target, there are very similar customer relationship management, or CRM, tools like this. Housecall Pro is kind of a CRM plus. It’s a CRM plus invoicing, plus booking, plus project management, plus review requests, software plus more built into it. There are equivalents of this software for almost every industry out there. If you’re an attorney, if you’re a restaurant, if you are a whitewater rafting guide, if you are a business coach, talk to us and we can walk you through the equivalent of what this is for your business. You can automate so much of what you do. You can save time, money, get more reviews and higher conversion rates. You can make the customer experience so much more enjoyable because they can book online, pay online and do everything that they really want to online. And that’s just going to make them happier and coming back for more.

Google My Business

This platform is free, at least for now to use. This is your Google listing. So when you type in “best Chinese restaurant near me,” what pops up on your maps are different Google listings. Or you might see it on Google search. That is Google my business. If you have not gained access to your Google My Business account, or you have not verified your Google my business account, that should be a top priority. If you don’t know how to do that, shoot us an email. We can help you do that for free. Google My Business is probably the most important digital tool for a small or local business, especially if you are a brick-and-mortar store. Google My Business has been making some changes recently where if you’re in these service industries where you go to locations and service your customers at their location, Google My Business is also effective for you too. When you set up your Google My Business profile, you can actually dictate what your service area is. If you serve the entire state of Utah or serve your customers within a 25-mile radius of your zip code, that is a setting in Google My Business. They really are trying to create this social platform between customers and local businesses.

It is so intuitive and easy to use. If you go to Google and type in Big Red Jelly, luckily, we’ve been doing a good job on our Google My Business, you can see that this listing has our Google card on the right. In our Google card, you’ll see people also searched for social media profiles, posts we’ve done from Big Red Jelly, our latest reviews, questions and answers, products and services, then, of course, our information. You’ll also see 153 five-star reviews. Not bad where we’re located. After a Google search, your eyes are naturally going to go toward those visuals on the right. That is Google My Business. That is your Google listing. And guess what? You can dictate what shows up here. Once you’ve logged into your account and you’ve verified your account. On your homepage, it gives you a really cool dashboard where you can see your performance locally and how many people have viewed you Google listing. You can also see your reviews here. Also what we really like, you can share your business profile right here so you can send people to your Google My Business listing. In fact, that’s our invitation right now, find your Google my business, get it verified, copy your Google My Business link and send it to your closest colleagues, your team members, family, friends, anyone you’ve done business with or met with in the last
week.
Go get yourself 20 reviews right now. After all, why not? You can post as if it’s a social media profile. The insights are super helpful. The reviews you can go respond to your views, manage reviews from there.
Google My Business also has a free mobile app. You can go download it onto your phone so you can log into your listing and respond to reviews, post on the go, update your info, such as hours of operation, phone number if you are a local business owner. Get on Google, search for your business, try to find your business listing. If that doesn’t pull up your business, try to put in some extra information to really get it to appear. If it doesn’t appear, contact us and we’ll help you find it and get it verified so you can log in
and start growing your business using this free online platform.
Don’t forget to go to bigredjelly.com/comeback and download the free guide to see some of these other realistic, practical steps, tricks, and tips to help your business come back in 2021 and then schedule a consultation so we can chat. It’s all free, no strings attached.
Mar 01
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Small Business Checklist: Top 5 Areas to Address First

By Marketing, Small Business No Comments

Whether you’re looking to run a side hustle or a full-on business endeavor, starting a small business takes a lot of hard work, commitment, and planning. You’ve probably thought through your ideas and are wondering where to begin. It can be daunting to figure out what to tackle first when starting your business and a Google search may lead you down too many rabbit holes.

If you’re looking for a short overview of the first things to address on your small business checklist then you’ve come to the right place. We’ve put together a few suggestions of the top 5 areas you need to address first when starting your small business. From registering your business, to creating an attractive brand and website with powerful tools, we’ll fill you in on what you need to have prepared in order to ensure success and growth in the coming year. 

 

1. Register Your Business 

Registering your business is an important first step for any business. By doing so, you add your name and business name to your state’s business registry, making things truly official and allowing you to form a legal entity in your state. You may have started out as a sole proprietorship, which is the simplest way to start your business but also invites risk as you grow. As a sole proprietorship, the law sees no difference between your personal assets and your business assets, meaning that if an accident occurs you are fully liable. When you incorporate, your business takes on that liability and not you personally. 

Take the guesswork out of incorporating with the help of Incorporate.com. With Incorporate, you’ll be able to form a corporation by simply submitting an application. Just send in your information and Incorporate does the rest. You don’t have to worry about filling out additional paperwork when their agents are standing by ready to do it for you. And, after incorporating through them, you get the support you need whenever you need it. Check your state’s guidelines for incorporation to be sure you’re following the right protocol. You can find out more here. 

 

2. Open Business Bank Accounts

After you’ve created your business entity, you want to be sure you have the necessary bank accounts open to run your business. Keeping your business expenses separate from your personal ones is important and will help you maintain records of what you’ve spent and earned as a business, making for a smoother tax season next year. 

If you’re not sure where to go to open business accounts, you can always try your personal banking institution first. They might be able to offer you more options or better benefits when opening a new account through them. A few other banking institutions that you could also consider are Wells Fargo, Chase, or Capital One. 

Aside from offering different options for business checking accounts, savings accounts, and credit cards they also offer different merchant services, SBA lending programs, and payroll services. However, we recommend utilizing the Small Business Administration’s guidelines of criteria to consider when choosing a financial institution for your small business.  

 

3. Set Up Payroll Services 

You might not think that having a payroll service could be of much help when running a small business. After all, it might just be you and a few employees at the beginning, or just you. Even if it’s just you and a few others, having a payroll service can greatly benefit the way you manage your business by increasing efficiency and reducing the time you spend on it, allowing you to focus on other important activities to grow your business. 

Payroll services, such as Helpside, make it easy for you to pay your employees, manage any benefits, and address risk management. Helpside specializes in serving small businesses as they strive to be more efficient, more focused, and more productive. Helpside will work with you to find the best combination of solutions for you and your employees. Check out Helpside’s payroll plans and find out more about how they could benefit your small business here.

 

4. Protect Your Business With Insurance 

Every business owner will face risks that could cost you down the road. These risks vary greatly depending on the type of business you have, the number of employees, the products or services you sell, and more. As a small business owner, you will want to consider insurance coverages like  General Liability Insurance, Product Liability Insurance, Workers’ Compensation, and others. 

General Liability is one of the most common coverages and insures you against third-party bodily injury, property damage, and personal and advertising injury claims. For example, if a customer slipped and fell in your business resulting in an injury then General Liability policy could cover a claim like this. Product Liability is designed to cover claims arising out of the use of your products that cause bodily harm or property damage. For example, if you sold soap and a consumer had an allergic reaction to it then this type of policy could cover costs associated with that type of claim. 

You face many risks when running a small business and you need to put up proper safeguards to protect it. Just like you wouldn’t drive your car with the right insurance, you shouldn’t want to operate your business without the needed coverage. 

For your insurance needs, check out a small business insurance marketplace like Insurance Canopy for a variety of insurance coverages based on industry and specific needs. Insurance Canopy offers A + rated insurance from the best carriers in the nation. Their application is completely online and their agents can get you quoted in as little as 48 hours. Premiums depend on the kind of business you run, your annual revenue, number of employees, and a few other factors. Visit Insurance Canopy to get the right insurance coverage for your business.   

 

5. Utilize Marketing and Branding Tools

Marketing and branding your company may seem like an overwhelming task. A simple web search to find the best business-building practices and tools provides you with a daunting amount of information to sift through. To ease your burden, the professionally trained marketing and branding team at Big Red Jelly comes in to save the day.

Big Red Jelly helps you navigate the digital landscape by providing you with the necessary services to develop your brand further, set up the right digital tools, and grow with our support. Our team is dedicated to helping businesses succeed and will support you every step of the way by helping you manage your digital platforms. Check out some of the other services we offer to see if they could help you grow too. 

Big Red Jelly can help get you found through their strategic marketing and branding services:

  • Brand Research
  • Brand Development
  • Web Design
  • Web Development
  • Digital Tool Integration
  • Hosting/Web Services
  • Digital Strategy & Support
  • Marketing Automation
  • & More 

To get started with Big Red Jelly, sign up for a free consultation today!

 

Checking Off The Boxes

There’s a lot that goes into running a small business and maintaining your efforts. You need access to the right tools that will enhance your business and keep you on top of your game. By utilizing Big Red Jelly’s branding and marketing skills and Helpside’s payroll services early on, you’ll set yourself up for success and avoid some of the more common mishaps business owners run into when they start out. We hope you’ve found some quality advice and put it to use. 

Feb 01
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Big Red Jelly’s Devotion to Uplifting Its Customers’ Vision

By Marketing, People, Small Business No Comments

According to Hubspot, 93% of people leave a website for not correctly displaying on their devices. In the fast-paced environment — not to mention the lifestyle — that many people are exposed to, it isn’t surprising that users are always eager to get to the information they’re looking for as quickly as possible.

As a business, it’s your job to do your best in reaching out to customers. The technology we have today allows us to connect with people wherever they are. The most common way to do this is through your website.

Your website serves as a hub where all the information about your business can be found. That said, the harsh truth is that visitors will likely not care about your business if you don’t have something to offer. This is where your value proposition comes in. To turn your visitors into frequent customers, it’s crucial that you emphasize what your business can do for them — the problems that you can solve. More importantly, you need to let them know right away the solutions that you can offer on your website.

Our team at Big Red Jelly is dedicated to helping our clients highlight their strengths and turn their weaknesses into opportunities. Being a modern digital branding agency, we are equipped with the knowledge that will propel your business in the online world. Thus, we focus on your vision and turn them into something better through research and creativity.

Not long ago, one of our clients generously left us some feedback on Clutch. If you’re not familiar with it, Clutch is a B2B ratings and reviews firm based in Washington, DC. Its team of independent analysts is committed to helping businesses identify and connect with the service providers they need to achieve their goals.

Here’s what a review on Clutch would look like:

For this project, we were tasked with the development of Yogi Zen’s e-commerce website. The challenge that we needed to solve was to improve upon the client’s existing Wix website since it didn’t function as intended. We sat down with the owner and talked about the specific areas of focus. Afterwards, we went ahead and did what we set out to do — craft an amazing ecommerce store that will gain our client more customer traction. Within seven days, we delivered a website the checks all the boxes for our partner.

“They always make sure that their finished product is something that we will be proud to have out there. Moreover, they really care about the people they’re working for. I like that the people we’ve worked with have been super informative and knowledgeable about designing the page and the store.” — Todd Roberts, Owner, Yogi Zen

To learn more about this review, along with our older reviews, don’t hesitate to check out our Clutch profile. You can also visit The Manifest, Clutch’s sister site, where you can find lists of top companies to aid you in your business goals. We’re currently featured as a top developer in Salt Lake City, so don’t miss out on that one.

Unlock your business’s untapped potential. Get your free assessment by clicking here.

Jan 14
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3 Practical and Easy Tactics to Increase Sales

By Marketing, Sales No Comments

As an entrepreneur and small business owner, if you were to ask me what the number one question is that keeps me awake at night I would say, “How do I get more business?”. This question resonates with most business owners of all sizes, whether you’re a Fortune 500 company or an entrepreneur working out of your parent’s pool house. How do I get more sales? More revenue? I want more clients. I want more money coming in through the door. These are healthy questions to always be asking. 

I’ve always raised an eyebrow at people I’ve met where this is not a top question or priority. I’m always going out making sure I’m constantly aggressive and attacking to grow my team. Sales should be at the forefront. This week’s topic for business success is three practical and quick action items that you can employ this week that will increase your sales. All business owners will benefit from these three things, but especially B2B. B2C business owners may need to get a little more creative in applying these three tips. You can complete these processes or tasks this week and start seeing results right away. Let’s dive into the three things you can do to increase your sales!

#1 – Onboarding and off boarding scripts that include upgrades or upsells

Creating onboarding or off boarding scripts that include an optional upgrade or upsell will instantly increase your sales. I am always amazed as we get to learn about other businesses through branding projects, digital build projects, and client strategy sessions how they do not have a solidified script or automations put in place to introduce current clients to additional services the business offers. Maybe script isn’t the right word, but businesses need an outline of the very first call that you have with a new client and the very last call after finishing your project. If they do have a script or set steps in place, how many businesses do not include an optional upgrade or upsell opportunity? 

We witnessed this every day. If you’ve ever been through a McDonald’s drive through, what do they always ask you? Do you want to make that a meal? That light bulb should be going off in your head, automatically, when you finish a project with a client. When asked that, clients will typically say, “Huh… Yeah, let’s go for it. Yeah, let’s do it. I didn’t think about that”. You will be amazed how many clients agree to an upgrade or upsell if you simply ask them. Oftentimes, a client is unaware that you provide Service X, Y, or Z. As soon as they become aware of said service, they are excited to upgrade their current project, plan, scope of work, etc. Through the process of your current project, you have likely created a solid relationship with your client, eliminating the awkward sales pitch barrier. 

We’ve implemented this at Big Red Jelly. We have several phases that clients go through. It’s never a pushy sell. The upgrades and upsells usually don’t come directly from our sales team. Rather, they come from team members who have worked with a client personally on a project. Our team is trained to ask, “Hey, now that we’ve completed this phase, are you interested in taking it to the next level?” For example, if we complete a branding project for a client where we rebrand or reposition their company, by the end of that project, it’s become more apparent to the client and our team member that the client’s digital platforms are archaic. With the new brand, their website looks outdated. At this point, it’s a very smooth upsell to build a new, modern website. You’ll be amazed at how many upgraded or unsold clients you receive even after a couple of conversations where you simply ask. 

#2 – Make your clients the center of attention

Give your current clients the opportunity to be the center of attention or the cool kid on the block. At Big Red Jelly, it’s important to us that we regularly spotlight our clients. Once you complete a project, there should be a process in place where you take time within the month to spotlight that client or project on your social media. Increase your client’s visibility by highlighting them in a case study, a blog, and your monthly email newsletter. They will love it! While you are showing off your great work, it shows that you care. It gets the word of mouth going, and it’s easy for them to refer you to their friends, colleagues and network.

It’s shocking how many businesses do amazing work, and then they don’t spotlight their clients. I see a lot of creative teams out there and very visual businesses that aren’t spotlighting their clients and making them the center of attention. Again, it makes you look like the good guy. It makes it look like you love your clients. It gives them the opportunity to say, “Oh, yeah, wow, let me share this”. You’re creating an organic word of mouth reach on social media, email, and other digital platforms. 

Making a client feel like the cool kid on the block or the cool networker that everyone wants to network with. When you finish work for a client, give them the opportunity to refer your business to anyone in their network for a discount. Let your client know how much you loved working with them and how great it would be to work with people in their industry, their network, their colleagues or cohorts. Let them know that if they refer you to their network, they’ll get a 10%, 15%, 20% discount. It makes them look cool. They look great. They really appreciate it. You’re looking after them. And of course, future business, future clients are going to like it as well. 

#3 – Automate your split-second automated reply

Consider automating your split second automated reply. Think to yourself: in your sales process or your marketing process, at what point is a new contact officially added to your CRM? At what point do they jump into your inbox? At what point do they first contact you through a contact form on your website or chat with you through a chat bot? All of these platforms have one thing in common, and it is that you can set up an automated split second reply. Now, some people might debate me on this, but I think there’s debate if you’re not very creative with your automated replies. Here are some statistics: According to scale.com, only 11% of organizations follow up on marketing qualified leads within five minutes. The most popular response time was within 24-hours at 37%. Now you might say, “Wow, 24-hours. That’s pretty good. I’d be happy if I could do that”. Twenty-four hours is not good enough! You are losing qualified leads every minute you do not follow-up. Your competition will take the potential client off your hands, trust me! 

Automate all of your platforms: email, web site, message platforms, chat bots, lead forms, contact forms, all of them! All of them can have a split second reply. In my opinion, these automations should be transparent that it is an automation. It can be something like this: “We got your message. In the meantime, while you’re waiting for a personal response for our team, here’s a link to our portfolio. Check out our latest work related to branding, seeing as that’s what you were interested in. Also, if you want 10 percent off now, click this link and schedule an onboarding video call right away. Let’s skip that whole step. We’ll get back to you within 12 hours, 24 hours.” 

The project is fresh on their mind. They may decide then and there, after receiving your automated message to close the sale with you and to stop shopping around. It lets them know that you’re on top of it, but you will also provide human contact within 24 hours. I hate when I complete all the information and the response says “Thanks, we’ll get back to you”. I get so frustrated. What does that even mean? But if it says “Thanks, a team member will reach out to you in 24-hours. In the meantime, check out our awesome work, see what our clients are saying. Look at this latest project we just finished up” you have further engaged a potential client and they have a positive association with your company before talking to anyone.  Don’t be the barrier that loses leads. If possible and applicable, give them a link to sign up, get started, schedule a call, etc. Automating next steps will save you time and money, while increasing the bottom line. 

 

Those are the three things you can do this week to increase your sales! Have clear onboarding and offboarding scripts or processes that include upgrades and upsell opportunities, make your current clients the center of attention, and automate immediate replies to any lead gathering technique you have on your digital platforms! These three things have dramatically increased our sales in the last year, and I’m confident you will see similar results! 

Let’s continue this conversation on our social media channels! Check out our weekly industry videos on our Facebook at 1:30PM (MST) every Thursday.

Today’s article comes from a previously recorded video. Check out the video here!

May 27
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Sierra Mendonsa Shares The Secrets That Helped Her Go From Intern to Director of Online Ads in Just One Year 

By Design, Marketing, Online Ads, People No Comments

So much of success comes from just getting started somewhere. Sierra Mendonsa shares how being passionate to continually learn has been the key to her journey. Just a little over a year ago Sierra started as an intern, looking for more experience. Now she is the Director of Online Ads for Big Red Jelly helping over 25 clients fine-tune their digital marketing strategies.

Involved in many projects at Big Red Jelly including graphic design, social media, and online ads, Sierra shares how it’s not just her degree in Digital Marketing that has gotten her to where she is now. Keep reading as she explains how to be successful no matter what industry you’re in. 

 

Q1: Tell me about your journey going from an intern to director of online ads in just 1 year. 

A: So when I started my internship I didn’t have any experience doing online ads at all, but I was interested in it. I wanted to get as much experience in all the areas that I possibly could. So one day I asked the girl that had my position before if I could learn how to do some ads and I really enjoyed it. When she was leaving she talked to Josh and said, “I think Sierra would do really well.” Then we spent the next couple of weeks training.

Since then we’ve grown so much. When I first started we were just doing Facebook ads. Since then we’ve grown. We’ve changed our processes. I built out the Google Ads service that we now offer to our clients, as well as the LinkedIn lead generation which is a more organic approach to advertising. So it’s been fun to see the progression. So much has changed on Facebook and Google even since I started the position a year ago.

Q2: What’s the biggest thing you’ve learned on this journey?

A: I think it’s that you cannot get complacent. You always, always have to be forward-looking with what’s changing in the industry, and thinking outside the box because the issue with advertising is that people are used to being blasted by ads all day long. If you want to be successful you have to find a way to break through that noise and be different and show them that you really understand. You have to understand the customer: what they’re looking for, what their problems are, and what they want.

Q3: What do you like about digital marketing?

A: I think my favorite part about digital marketing is that every company and every industry needs it.  I’m someone that can get bored easily doing the same thing for too long, so I like that in digital marketing I have the opportunity to work with so many different clients in so many different industries. There’s something new every day that I come into the office. I like the marketing side because it’s kind of like business psychology. It’s really just understanding people and why they buy the things they buy. I like the digital aspect because I really think that’s the way the world is moving. That’s where our attention is and it’s exciting. It’s also nice that you can do it all online from your home if you need to. Working remotely? That’s awesome.

Q4: What is a strategy that helps you stay focused? 

A: Oh man, I’m a very big list person. So, I’ll write everything out for my week ahead of time. I’ve also learned that I need to set hard deadlines for myself. So a lot of times I will schedule a video call with a client before I’m even done and that’s my hard deadline, I have to get it done by that point. I also will schedule out time on my calendar, so from this hour to this hour, you are only doing this task. There’s a lot you have to juggle. I’m involved in a lot more than just online ads, though that is my main area. 

Q5: What’s a hurdle you’ve overcome?

A: I think the biggest hurdle is the same as any business degree. You have to start somewhere, and it can be hard! Most jobs don’t want to hire you without having experience. So I think that Big Red Jelly helped me overcome that hurdle. It not only gave me that experience but also let me experiment with all the different areas of digital marketing. So now I’m pretty well rounded in all aspects of digital marketing and I’ve got great experience on my resume working with real clients and getting real results. 

Q6: Who do you think has influenced you the most when it comes to how you approach your work? 

A: I definitely think Josh has. He’s awesome because he lets you do things the way that you want to do, but he also is there to answer any questions that you have and can give advice. Josh is really good with handling clients and making sure they’re happy.  He’s also great at reminding you to keep things as simple as possible and you don’t waste time on little unnecessary tasks. So I think that having Josh as a mentor and a boss, as we’re building out these new processes, has influenced the way that I attack new projects and manage my time in the office.

Q7: What is one thing that has made you successful? 

A: I just want to know everything about everything. I love learning. I was willing to ask for new experiences and responsibilities, even though they were outside my designated duties, simply because I wanted to learn. There are so many resources out there, especially for digital marketing. Free classes or videos and often you can get certifications for them too. So be proactive and learn as much as you possibly can, about as many areas as you can, because there’s so much overlap and being well rounded is going to help you out so much. Having that understanding of how everything works together is going to help you perform better in your area.

Q8: What is the best advice you’ve ever taken? 

A: There’s two things that come to mind. The first is that if you’re ever getting overwhelmed with how many things you need to do, instead of stressing, just get started. Start with one little task and once you get going it’s so much easier to get into a rhythm. Just open up the computer and start on the first task you see. Then before you know it, a few hours have gone by, and you’ve gotten a lot done. 

I think the second goes hand in hand with that. Always look for ways that you can automate or simplify what you’re doing. One of the things I’ve done at Big Red Jelly is take the tasks that I’m doing repetitively and find ways to simplify them. For example, Zapier is a tool that we use a lot at Big Red Jelly.  That has saved us so much time because it allows you to connect so many different things like Facebook ads, Google Sheets, sending emails and so much more. It allows you to automate a lot of those processes. On top of automating, find ways to simplify what you’re doing down to the essentials. So, keep it simple and avoid unnecessary work and just get started.

Q9: When you’re faced with a creative block how do you keep innovating? 

A: When I have a block I look at the competition and I see what everybody else is doing. And I’m competitive so that motivates me to find a way to do it even better than they are. 

Q10: How do you prevent burnout? 

I think, for me personally, by making sure that I can switch my tasks up. Since I am involved in a lot of different areas, social media, design, and online advertising, I can break up those tasks. I can say, “Okay, I’m going to do design. All right, now I’m going to focus on social media for a little bit because I need to break through this. Okay, now I’m going to do my online ads.” Just finding ways to break up your tasks really helps so that they don’t become mundane. That’s my biggest advice. 

Also, it’s okay to take breaks. If you are not being productive, that’s okay to take a little break to grab lunch or a drink, or something to get away for a bit and let yourself refocus. I think that’s one thing that I had a hard time with and still do. Sometimes you feel like you have so much to do that you don’t have time to stop. But you unfortunately can’t operate at 100%, 100% of the time so it’s okay to take a break and refocus.

Q11: What inspires you in what you’re creating? 

A: There’s a lot of creators out there that I’m following on social media or I subscribe to their email lists. I always keep an eye out for what other people are doing. Then anytime I see social media posts or designs that I like I screenshot it and make little notes about the elements I liked and ask myself “How can I tailor that to fit my needs? How can I do it even better than they did?”

Q12: What is one of the experiences that helped you grow the most? 

A: There are two things that I can say. The first is that I’m the kind of person that likes to research and have all my questions answered before I get started. It can be scary when you don’t feel like you know what you’re doing, but I think that Big Red Jelly has helped me overcome that. When I first started they threw me in the deep end and watched how I handled it. But I learned so much by just jumping in.

The other experience that has helped me grow comes from those times that we didn’t perform as well as we had hoped for a client. As sad as we were to lose them, it helped us to regroup and say, “Okay, what was the problem? Why was this client unhappy? What do we need to do better next time?” We are able to take that feedback and hone in our processes to make sure that we can give all future clients the service they want and deserve.

Q13: What are you learning now and why is that important?

A: One thing I’ve personally been looking into is video and what makes “good content”. Videos overwhelmingly have the highest engagement and many prefer them. I was actually reading an article the other day that said Facebook timelines have changed so much.  They’ve cut out a lot of the regular posts and are prioritizing videos. People spend more time on the app if they are watching videos rather than quickly scrolling through images or captions. These platforms want you to spend as much time as possible on their app so it makes sense that they would show you videos more. Because of the importance of video, that is actually a new service that we are currently working to bring to Big Red Jelly.

Feb 26
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Networking

By Marketing, People No Comments

What is Networking?

Networking is the process of interacting with others and exchanging information in order to develop either professional or social contacts. Networking is very important in today’s world of business. It is essential for helping you build up your business, explore new careers and working with others. 

Why is Networking Essential?

Networking provides many benefits to one’s self. It allows many opportunities for one to strengthen his or her’s personal or professional connections. It is an essential skill to make it easier to find people you need for projects. It also helps with building your list of references or are looking for a job you might need. If you are starting a business, networking makes it better for you to hire more people. Often it is said that in business, its not so much what you know but who you know that can help you land a job opportunity or find support for your business.

 

Networking is also good for building new ideas for business.  Getting a fresh perspective or second opinion on something that you are working on can be very beneficial to one’s goals and help them plan or carry them out in a business sense. Many ideas can be generated from a group of people. Even if the idea is from one person, having a network makes it easier to carry that idea out.

 

Having a network strengthens your position as well. The more people you know the more likely that you will be able to find help with solving problems or creating solutions to help others. The exchange of ideas and knowledge is essential in your business and professional career. It allows you to be resourceful when the need arises. Having a network you can rely on is a necessity for this.

How to Network

In Your Education

It is essential to take any opportunity where you can meet new people and build upon that. There are many opportunities to network. There are many opportunities that you can take to network. The college you went to is often a great place to start. If you are still in school, many of the people you attend class with are going into the same field that you will be, making them a great starting point for connecting. If you are in post-graduation, you might still have a lot of connections that you are in contact with. 

 

Professional Setting

The professional setting is the most traditional way to network. You’ll make many connections with people throughout your career. Your fellow coworkers are a great place to start with building connections and creating your network. You will also have many opportunities to find other people through business meetings, conferences that you might go to, tradeshows and business trips.

 

Social Media

LinkedIn is a social media platform built just so people can network with each other in a professional way. LinkedIn is set up so that you can upload your resume and make a profile for yourself based on professional needs. However, Networking on Social Media does not have to be limited to just LinkedIn.

 

Through Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Youtube, there are all sorts of ways for you to get started with networking. Instagram and Facebook allow you to have a professional business page so that if you have a business you can communicate that way. Even if you do not have a business. You are always free to reach out to other people and invite them to share contact information with you through professional ways.

How Big Red Jelly can help

While Big Red Jelly can set you up with the tools for you to successfully network. Big Red Jelly helps its customers by offering to build websites for them, run their social media or helping with search engine optimization so that more people can discover you through Google. 

Making you more visible online is a great way for you and your business to begin networking and building your clientele. 

Oct 31
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Big Red Jelly office with employees busy working on tasks.

What Exactly is Digital Marketing?

By Marketing, SEO, Social Media, Website No Comments

The first thing people think of when they hear digital marketing is social media. And they’re right. To an extent. But digital marketing is so much more than just social media. According to a post written on Hubspot.com, digital marketing encompasses all marketing efforts that use an electronic device on the internet. Businesses leverage digital channels such as search engines, social media, email, and other websites to connect with current and prospective customers. So let’s go over some of what this entails.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Search engine optimization, or SEO, focuses on how your business ranks in search engines. Let’s say you own a local plumbing company. You’re just starting out and want to be within the first page if someone were to search “plumbing around me”. Through SEO, your business will be pushed to the first page. Things that factor into SEO are online reviews, page views, and search rankings. 

Content Creation

Through content creation, businesses are able to produce content related to their brand. Someone in digital marketing will write blogs, make videos, and even design a logo for a company. An example: let’s say you own a company based around mortgages. Through content creation, someone in digital marketing could write a blog about the different types of mortgages. Or make a video that involves their mortgage institution and why they decided to start a mortgage company. Content creation is vital in the digital age because it bridges the gap between companies and the online world.

Social Media

Social media management is the most common and very vital part of digital marketing. This involves every form of social media. Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc. What goes into social media management though? Through social media marketing, businesses create brand awareness and help generate leads for your business. Digital marketers will manage your social media for you so you don’t have to. They create content calendars and post images and statuses for you. Through social media marketing, you can expect consistent and unique posts. 

Email Marketing

Email Marketing is useful when it comes to promotions. Companies can send out newsletters, give their customers discounts, offer loyalty programs, and welcome new customers. These are very helpful for companies that sell a multitude of products.

So the next time you hear the word “digital marketing”, hopefully, you will know what it is and that it’s more than just running social media. For more information, here’s a helpful video produced by Hubspot.

Oct 07
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The Top 5 Advertising Books You Need to Read

By Marketing No Comments

Advertising is a vital component of marketing. Advertising is defined as the activity or profession of producing advertisements for commercial products or services. The earliest forms of advertising date back to ancient Rome when those on the street would advertise their products through speech. Fast forward to now, and there have been many books written about advertising. Here are the top 5 books on advertising that you need in your personal library.

 

1. Ogilvy on Advertising

 

Everyone in the advertising world has read this at some point in their lives. David Ogilvy is regarded as the father of advertising and this book clearly demonstrates why. In his book, Ogilvy details the dos and don’ts of advertising. Although he wrote this book decades ago, the tips he provides still hold true to this day. My personal favorite quote from his book is “When I write an advertisement, I don’t want you to tell me that you find it ‘creative.’ I want you to find it so interesting that you buy the product.”

 

2. Adland: A Global History of Advertising

 

“Adland” is an amazing book because it provides a closer look at the history of modern-day advertising. In it, you’ll find a detailed history of where advertising started and explores it through interesting moments in history like The Great Depression. It provides a closer look at key developments like the explosion of radio and television all the way to the exploration of digital media like podcasts. Mark Tungate does an amazing job of turning this book into a fun, creative journey.

 

3. My Life in Advertising and Scientific Advertising

 

This book is a must in the advertising industry. It is recommended to be read before you get into any form of advertising. In this book written by Claude Hopkins, you can expect to gain a clear understanding of what advertising is. Being regarded as the founder of modern advertising, Claude Hopkins wrote about his life in the advertising industry. In it, you can expect to learn things such as how to know your audience and how to properly advertise an item. When referring to this book, David Ogilvy once said “Nobody should be allowed to have anything to do with advertising until he has read this book seven times. It changed the course of my life.”

 

4. Confessions of an Advertising Man

 

On the list again is a book written by Ogilvy himself. “Confessions of an Ad Man” is the essential guide to modern advertising. With chapters about how to manage advertising agencies to writing potent copy, this book is always on my table. I have reread this book multiple times myself and have paragraphs highlighted. This book has been revised in small ways to correct minor errors to help the book hold its relevance in the current generation.

 

5. The Art of Client Services: 58 Things You Should Know

 

Robert Solomon, an advertising executive wrote 58 things that anyone and everyone in client services should know. In “The Art of Client Services”, Solomon writes about his successes and failures in the advertising world. This book is geared toward anyone in advertising. Copywriters, researchers, planners, and art directors are just some of the professions that benefit from reading this book. With a newer revision, you can find chapters on technology in the new era. This book is for you if you’re trying to get ahead in the game or get back into the game. 

 

Oct 07
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Big Red Jelly Announces Boost My Business Campaign 

By Marketing No Comments

Big Red Jelly, a company known for digital branding, is now offering a free service! With the Boost My Business campaign, Big Red Jelly will design a custom made business strategy for you. With the steps listed below, we’ll tell you how it works.

Step 1

Step 1 begins with your business name, current website (if you have one), and your email to 435-631-9968. Through this, we explore and audit your website, social media, and digital platform standing. You don’t have a website just yet? Just text us your business name, email, and industry! Through this, it will help us get the step in our process more smoothly!

Step 2

At this point in the process, it’s your job to sit back and relax! Our team of experts will get to work on your custom digital marketing strategy. After our digital marketing strategy has been finished, we will email the results back to you to review within 3 business days! 

Our top recommendations on what you can start doing today will help you rank higher on Google and other various search engines. With our simple website recommendations, you can improve your user experience and convert more traffic to loyal customers. We also provide an in-depth analysis of your current social media standing to give you easy steps to help share your brand like never before! 

Learn more about our happy clients and team here at www.bigredjelly.com or email us at info@bigredjelly.com.

Aug 30
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Ship going off into the ocean from a rocky coast

What is Drop Shipping? And what are the Benefits?

By Marketing No Comments

You’re a colonial in early America, history for this country is just beginning but you don’t have time to think about it. You have to get your sister’s shoes to her by next month’s Sunday, or she won’t have them for an important wedding. The only problem is that she lives across the ocean and you have no time to swim across the vast sea. Instead, you wrap the shoes up in a lovely parcel and drop them off onto a ship so it can sail across the sea and get to her in less than a month’s time. Thank goodness you had the option of dropping off the package on a ship, someone else can get the package to her and the fateful Sunday is saved.

Back to the present day: besides the fact that dropping off the package on a ship is similar to the words ‘drop ship’ the ideas, though similar, aren’t exactly the same. So the question becomes, what exactly does it mean to drop ship something? Since Google always explains things best we’ll quote them here:

 “Drop shipping is a supply chain management method in which the retailer does not keep goods in stock but instead transfers the customer orders and shipment details to either the manufacturer, another retailer, or a wholesaler, who then ships the goods directly to the customer.”

In other words, drop shipping is a strategy for order fulfilment where the retailer does not have the product in its personal inventory. Instead, they rely on outside wholesalers or manufacturers to ship orders directly to the customer. So what are the benefits of this magical system you wonder?

5 main benefits to Drop Shipping

A Broad Product Offering

If you are selling something to the public and have your brand in different locations than there are more people you can sell to. For example, if you have a t-shirt company and sell your product at Adidas and Apple you can market your t-shirt brand more openly to the shoe company and the technology company.

Come to Market More Quickly

The more people want your product, the more you can get revenue for the product. However, if it’s just through your company that you sell your product, there won’t be as much of it in stock. Therefore, selling it through a second party means you can get more of your product out into the world.

Explore New Lines

Using the drop shipping method, a company can test out strategies without bringing in the extra inventory. In other words, the second company that sells your product enables the original company to explore and open new opportunities that wouldn’t have been explorable beforehand.

Reduce Your Investment

A dropshipping investment doesn’t require an upfront agreement with the customer, the retailer has the ability to step away. Therefore, the retailer is committing less time and energy to the product and will be able to explore other avenues.

More Time

Allowing a manufacturer to assist your company in sending your product out will allow for a bit of a buffer. The buyer will be happier since the product is getting them so fast because of the second company assisting you in your work.

Like always though, there are downsides such as confusion for any part of this equation (retailer, manufacturer, customer). 

In short, however, drop shipping has its ups and downs. It has the potential to be very beneficial but may not be for everyone. In an even shorter summary: drop shipping is a retailer allowing a manufactory to sell their product and ship it off to the customer once ordered.