Tag: management

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Part Two: Creating a Social Media Strategy

social media strategy

Social media strategy consists of three elements: content, management, and giving. Last week we covered part one, content. This week we’ll tackle the next two elements, management and giving.

Social Media Management

Once your content is live it’s important to check your metrics. But first, you’ll want to set some goals. We recommend three-month, six-month, and annual goals. These can vary including increasing your newsletter subscriptions, to having more sales on particular items, or expanding your audience. Create a spreadsheet to track how past posts are performing.

Content Strategy and Giving

The next step is to keep the conversation going. That’s what we call giving. This means interacting with your posts (responding to comments, following other businesses, and commenting on other people’s content).

If any of these pieces seem too much for one person, remember you can pull in help from your team. You can also save time by grouping all of these into different chunks. One chunk to batch edit photos, another to interact with content, and so on.

Inspiration for this post comes from “Develop a Social Media Strategy” by Anneliese Johnson, account manager for Stitchcraft Marketing, and published in the December 2022 issue of Creative Retailer.

If you’re looking for more information to guide you in owning a retail business, subscribe to Creative Retailer today. Already a subscriber? No worries—join our Facebook group for insights and dialogue from industry specialists like you. And don’t forget, you can always purchase single issues if you prefer that instead.

If you still can’t get enough, register for the Creative Retailer LIVE Spring 2023 event May 2-4 in Pawhuska, Oklahoma for opportunities to learn from peers and network with industry professionals.

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Positive Company Culture

company culture

A negative company culture can have a devastating impact on your business. Read on to learn how to create a positive company culture by knowing the employee archetypes and how to manage them.

The Impact of Company Culture

There are a couple ways to manage workplace negativity. The first is to set clear expectations in your company handbook and follow them. The second is to have quarterly performance reviews. This provides both parties with an outlet for constructive criticism on how the other party can improve.

Another factor to consider is yourself. What sort of example do you set? Do you make your employees feel appreciated? After some soul searching, be ready to confront negativity head on. The following tips will be a good place to start managing the negativity.

Employee Categories

  • The Emotional Employee: Emotional employees are easily provoked which can be distracting to business. Set up a weekly sync to be used as a vent session as an outlet.
  • The Social Butterfly: This employee has a poor gauge of time and enjoys chatting. Fortunately this is easy to manage. Put social butterflies in a social role like planning workshops and employee or customer recognition events.
  • The Bully: Workplace bullies use power to manipulate others. For this conversation you’ll want to listen to both sides of the story and have your facts ready.
  • The Complainer: More often than not, this isn’t a bad thing, especially if the employee is bought into the company’s mission. Listen to what they have to say—they may bring up a point you haven’t thought of before.

Inspiration for this post comes from “Positive Culture Produces Satisfied Employees” by HR expert and former quilt shop owner Melisa Morrison published in the October 2022 issue of Creative Retailer.

If you’re looking for more information to guide you in owning a retail business, subscribe to Creative Retailer today. Already a subscriber? No worries—join our Facebook group for insights and dialogue from industry specialists like you. And don’t forget, you can always purchase single issues if you prefer that instead.

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Time Flexibility

time

We all know time is money. But like money, we only have a certain amount of time in a day. Managing this, and being flexible with the changes that can happen along the way, is a topic I’ve been reflecting on.

Time Flexibility

Winter is hard, and if you’re anything like me it’s easy to slip into work mode. Next thing you know, other areas of your life start to be neglected. A friend calls to catch up and you realize your life has been consumed by work.

So how do you stop yourself from slipping into the haze of work mode? Ironically, I’ve found scheduling time for myself and time for hobbies has been the best balance.

Setting and enforcing work boundaries has also been a help. Mainly setting specific work hours – and sticking to them. If I find I can’t complete my work during those set hours, I find a way to work more efficiently.

And finally, I try to have a long-term mindset. It would be nice if I could everything done at once but that is not only unrealistic but a one-way ticket to exhaustion.

Time Management

Another trick I’ve been trying is scheduling each hour of my work day (breaks included). My process is simple as writing my daily-to-do list on a post it note; looking at my calendar, and filling in what needs to be done. I spend leftover time furthering my education or planning long-term projects.

Supposedly this tactic helps to save your creativity bank, and so far I’ve found that to be true. Plus, it’s helped me be more realistic with how long certain tasks take and enforces not spending too much time on one thing.

Don’t forget to check out our upcoming AQR Academy events including AQR Academy: The Buzz – Spring Fling ’22 on April 7 from 9:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. CST as well as AQR Academy Live April 19-21 just outside of Des Moines, Iowa. Take advantage of all our educational opportunites through our 2022 AQR Academy All Access Membership sale. Registration is open until March 31.

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Tackle Your Business Stress

Less Stress

Has stress been a big part of your year? If it has, you’re definitely not alone. Don’t let stress run your life. Practice some of these tips to reduce what’s on your plate.

Maximize your time

If interruptions get in the way of completing tasks, plan around that. The most obvious move is put your phone on do not disturb, set an alarm, and get to work.

If not being available for your business seems out of the question, work during the best time that you can avoid interruptions. If you’re a morning person, wake up an hour earlier to get work done. If you’re a night owl, plan an hour before bed to knock those to-do tasks out.

Ever consider NOT attending that webinar you registered for to give yourself breathing room? Give it a try sometime, and see if the world ends.

Lastly, do you have a constant stream of marketing efforts to attract new customers? Word of mouth is still the best from of referral, but social media is the next best. Develop your online persona so your customers can feel the personal touch your business provides.

Automate, Delegate, Eliminate

Do you still do the bookkeeping manually? What other tasks do you do by hand? Set some time aside to research how you can automate through apps, sites, and services.

Further, do you personally answer every email, return every voicemail, go through the inventory, etc.? Delegate those tasks to free yourself to more pressing matters that will take your business the extra mile.

Finally, eliminate the negativity in your life, including the unneeded stressers that your business may cause. Try some of these tips to get you closer to managing the stress in your life.

Inspiration for this post came from “Is Business Stress Ruining Your Life?” by Beth Montpas published in the October 2020 issue of American Quilt Retailer.

If you’re looking for more information to guide you in owning a retail business, subscribe to American Quilt Retailer today. Already a subscriber? No worries—join our Facebook group for insights and dialogue from industry specialists like you.