Social Media Marketing

What is Social Media Marketing?   Social Media Marketing is an inexpensive form of marketing to increase brand awareness, customer service and other marketing goals through the social networking websites. Social Media Marketing allows business to educate and promote their products or services to consumers in an individual level.

The following are the most common social networking websites:

• Twitter  allows companies to provide information in less than 140 characters. Tweets can be linked to another website to provide the full information of the message.
• Facebook allows companies to upload photos and longer messages. Customers can provide recommendations or public comments, which increase the trust of the company.
• LinkedIn  allows companies to network with other professionals and provides the opportunity to generate business partners and sales leads.
• YouTube allows companies to provide information throughout commercials.
• Blogs allows companies to provide longer and useful information about products or services to consumers and community.  

Social Media Marketing has become a powerful tool for a business to gain potential customers and website traffic.

Maximize your Leadership

Leaders are essential for an organization because they establish the road of excellence within the organization.

The following are the main keys to maximize your leadership skills.

1. Communication: An open communication with your team members and colleagues will avoid any misunderstandings. A constant communication will lead everyone in the team to achieve the same goal sooner.  
2. Turn negative into positive: Take every comment as a constructive critique. Every day is a learning lesson, therefore is recommended to listen up to other’s critiques and apply it to become a better leader.
3. Oversee those in your team: Provide the knowledge, equipment, tools and everything necessary for your team to succeed. 
4. Be proactive: Take the initiative to accomplish the goal successfully.

A maximization of leadership skills will increase the value of the leader and the company.

Selling the right product

Has your company experienced low revenues in the past quarters?   Therefore, one of the areas to be analyzed is if the product or service provided is accurate to satisfy the consumer needs.

Most individuals create a business based on their experience and knowledge, without taking into account the what the consumer wants. This is the most common mistake every business do; mainly when there has been a lot of investment without doing a research of the demand of the products or services to be provided.  In addition, the lack of renovation leads to loss of revenues as well, such as Blockbuster.

The following are recommendations to see if your business is providing the right product or services. Every recommendation has an example in the commercial cleaning industry.

1. Analyze the overall industry.
   * In the janitorial services industry, the expected annual growth for the following 4 years is 3.3%. The industry is at a mature stage. Source: IBIS World
2. See the opportunities in the area where product or service will be provided
   * There are approximately 219,324 firms in the greater Houston area where J&B Professional Cleaning Services can offer its office cleaning services.  Source: Census
3. Choose the correct marketing plan to the right consumers.
   * Since janitorial services are offered to other business (B2B), the marketing campaign used is for business not for consumers in the office cleaning line.
4. Evaluate competition
   * There are 548 janitorial establishments in the Greater Houston Area.  Source: Houston Library
5. Analyze demand of product or service by
   * Obtaining feedback from customers. J&B provides a constant communication with customers, as well as an annual client’s survey.
   * Obtaining feedback from supervisors.  Some J&B’s customers refer to the supervisor in regards any requests.
   * Keeping a constant quality of services. J&B provides supervision to continue providing a constant high quality of cleaning services.

A constant research of a potential and existing market is necessary to avoid any loss of revenues.

Increasing Productivity

One of the main goals in a business is to have a continuous growth, which in most cases is reflected by the increase of productivity. How can a business achieve a continuous increase in productivity?
Productivity is defined as doing the right thing by being able to produce with a minimum effort and expense. In other words, productivity is the reflection of how effective and efficient a business is.

One main key of productivity is being effective, which is defined as doing the right thing by being able to produce a product or service. The company is effective when objectives and goals are identified, when the right products and services are provided to the customers, and when employees are doing the right thing to produce their product or services. As an example, a commercial cleaning company is being effective by providing cleaning service rather than offering accounting services to the customers.

Another main key of productivity is being efficient, which is identified as producing with a minimum effort and expense. The company must identify different ways to perform their duties and obtain the best way to save time and money. As an example, a commercial cleaning company provides vacuum cleaners instead of brooms to clean the carpet.

Since effectiveness and efficiency are essential to increase productivity, a company can provide incentives to employees such as bonuses, increase in salaries, and/or commission. Overall, the more effective and efficient a company is, the higher level of productivity the company will have, which leads to a continuous growth.

Investing Profits

December is here! Time to evaluate the company’s performance and to allocate all the profits earned. However, how would a company be able to put aside the majority of their earnings for the expectation of higher returns in the future?  The key is to invest within the company.

The following are some ideas of how to invest the company’s profits and obtain a higher return in the upcoming years.

1. Acquire new equipment to make more efficient the production line.
2. Upgrade vehicles, computers, and equipment to lower the cost of maintenance and repairs.
3. Purchase new land to expand the facilities of company.
4. Distribute the earnings among the owned stocks, bonds, and savings accounts.
5. Hire potential personnel, who will bring higher returns.
6. Give bonuses to employees, to incentive them to be more productive for the upcoming year.
7. Increase the budget amount of the following departments: marketing, sales and product development.

An efficient investment will increase the value of the company that will lead to a continuous growth.

Injured on lunch break: does employee get worker’s comp?

Worker’s compensation can be a headache for the employer and employee if both parties do not know all the regulations or coverage. The misunderstanding of regulations can lead to monetary loss, time loss, and a stressful work environment. One of the most common questions is: Is an employee eligible for worker’s compensation when injured during the lunch break?

The employee gets worker’s compensation if the employee gets hurt while

-          On the clock and in job premises
-          On the clock but out of premises because his duties require it, such as meeting with a client.

However, the worker’s compensation is denied if the employee gets hurt while

-          Not on the clock and in the job premises
-          Not on the clock and out of the job premises
-          On the clock and out of the premises doing personal activities, such as paying bills, picking up his children, depositing money to his personal account, and more.

When the employee is not on the clock and in the job premises, the claim should be submitted to the general liability holder, not to the worker’s compensation.  For more information click here http://www.tdi.texas.gov/wc/idr/apdliability3.html

Lead Generation List

Creating a lead generation list is the process by which a company finds prospective customers for its product and services offerings. The list may contain company names, contact names, addresses, phone numbers, and/or email addresses.

How does a company generate a lead list?

1. Identify the target area with potential customers.
2. Attend networking events within the area.
3. Attend local chamber of commerce events.
4. Attend industry trade shows.
5. Attend educational seminars.
6. Identify potential members of the Better Business Bureau.
7. Identify members from joined associations.
8. Identify prospects visiting the company’s website.
9. Identify potential customers within social media, such as LinkedIn.
10. Ask referrals from clients, friends and family.

Lead generation is a time-consuming process. However, once identified the lead, the lead can become a long-term relationship.

Marketing & Sales

Is it Marketing vs. Sales? Or Marketing and Sales?

Marketing is defined as everything a company does to place its product or service in the hands of potential customers. Sales are defined as the face of the company, the one person who will provide the best description of the product/service, which goal is to close a deal.  Both departments have the same objective, to promote the company to the consumer with the goal of obtaining his/her business.

Marketing’s goal is usually to create awareness, interest, desire and action. The following are common used marketing techniques to increase market share:

-      Advertising is long term, paid process goal that increases brand equity through the use of  printed and online directories, broadcast, billboards, and more.
-      Promotion is short term, incentive to the consumer leading to an action such as discounts, offers, promotional items, refunds, and anything that will save money or give value to the consumer.
-      Public Relations are news of the  company. The company announces relevant information, such as awards, mergers, acquisitions, anniversary, “how to” or “tips” to the consumer, that might affect the administration or the consumer. The news can be published by a press release, newsletter, social media or broadcast.
-      Market Research is the evaluation, measurement, observation, and innovation of internal and external environment.
-      Marketing Collateral is what the marketing teams design, create and print, such as brochures, presentations, white papers, case studies, coupons and more for company or Sales use.

Once the consumer has created an action, Sales will be able to connect with the consumer ready to make a purchase. Sales become the physical image of the company, who will engage the prospect with their interpersonal skills. Some of the key elements for a good interpersonal skill are the following:

-      Smiles because it makes everyone happy, welcoming and comfortable.
-      Caring demonstrate the customer that his/her business is valuable.
-      Active listener allows the salesperson to listen, not hear, the customer needs.
-      Communicate with the truth by letting the customer know what can and can’t be done.
-      Professionalism is demonstrated by dress, language and treating the customer with respect.

To acquire a business, marketing and sales works together. Sales request what (s)he needs to close a deal, and marketing providing such items. Sales also provide a guide to Marketing by measuring which campaigns, mediums and techniques work.  The cooperation of both departments, leads to an increase in revenue, which consequently to the company growth.

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Online Marketing

What is marketing? Marketing is defined as everything you do to place your product or service in the hands of potential customers. One of the newest trends in the marketing world is Online Marketing. Online marketing refers to using the power of Internet advertising to generate a response from your audience. Also known as Internet marketing or web marketing, online marketing is used by companies selling goods and services directly to consumers and business-to-business companies. Common areas of interest within the field of online marketing include:

• Affiliate Marketing: Business recruits associates to promote the company’s products or services. The associates receive a commission or other similar rewards for every sale, visitor, subscriber, or customer they bring to the company.
• Display Advertising: The use of web banners or banner ads placed on a third-party website to drive traffic to a company’s own website and increase product awareness.
• Email Marketing: Companies that use email marketing send promotional emails directly to customers. However, it can often be hard to distinguish between spam and legitimate email marketing messages.
• Interactive Advertising: Involves the use of animations and other graphic techniques to create ads that engage the viewer and invite participation.
• Search Engine Marketing: Search Engine Optimization (SEO), paid placement, and paid inclusion are search engine marketing techniques that companies can use to increase their visibility in the search engine page results from Google and its competitors.
• Viral Marketing: Viral marketing is a technique is which companies encourage customers to pass along information about their products or services. Company websites that let visitors email interactive games or funny video clips to their friends are an example of a viral marketing effort.

Whether it’s directly or indirectly, online marketing is a very powerful tool for a company to gain placement in the market and let potential customers that they are there to help and offer their services.

Celebrating 16 years of Success..

In 1994, with the dream of a better future, Mr. Javier and Ms. Bertha Zavala started cleaning one to two houses per week. With the pledge to keep going, this was the initiation of a company that would be in the market for many years. The first months were the most difficult and taking things as they came, Mr. Javier never lost faith of taking the company where it is now. In 1995 the company J&B Professional Cleaning Service was legalized.

Starting by cleaning houses from Precision Homes and Don Demmy, by Ms. Bertha, J&B was able to start the line of new homes. As the years went by, J&B had to face new obstacles. In 2001, for the first time, the company had to take charge of cleaning one of the first big schools built by Mambro Construction off 610 and Bellaire. With many new projects that J&B had to clean, the company had to organize another truck in 2001 to make sure that all the jobs were being taken care of. With experience in the industry J&B could affirm the specialty of cleaning new construction.

With only three offices, Accoustical Material, Pride, and Pitman, that Mr. Javier cleaned, he was able to initiate the line of cleaning offices. In 1997, J&B had the opportunity to get one of the biggest accounts of the moment, First Baptist Church of Heights. As the years were passing, J&B was able to obtain newer, bigger and different accounts that affirmed the line of cleaning offices

Something that he had in his mind and automatically was implied in the company was “Let’s keep going.” With that mentality, patience, audits, and bad feelings, the business was able to pass many barriers throughout the years and to this date has always kept going. After 2006, J&B Professional Cleaning Service made a 360 degree turn growing without limits. In 2011, J&B proudly introduced the line of maid services.

J&B Professional Cleaning Service would like to thank you and celebrate with you their 16th anniversary and hopes to continue to serve you today, tomorrow, and in the upcoming years.