SABRINA&COMPANY SOCIAL MARKETING

Social Media Agency

Business and Marketing Tips

Be Enthusiastic About Your Business

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Enthusiasm is defined as “a feeling of excitement and active interest” by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Some call it “zest” and see it as being characterized by being “engaged and activated.” Generally speaking, you’ll know you’re feeling enthusiasm when you feel positive, can’t wait to get started, or get lost in a project.

Are people born with enthusiasm? To some degree, yes. In your life, you’ve probably met many people who seem naturally enthusiastic. While some of them have learned these skills, anyone who has been around babies and toddlers will tell you some children are just more prone to being interested and engaged with the world than others. In short, they’re already enthusiastic even when they’re infants, giggling gleefully at each discovery.

At the same time, we can learn enthusiasm. When you teach a child to be interested in the world, awaken their curiosity and instill in them a love of learning, you are guiding them toward becoming more enthusiastic individuals as they grow older.

But what happens when you lose that zest for your business? Can you find it again?  I say yes!

First, take time to focus on your mental health. That can help you see things differently. Also, take small steps of focused learning on what’s good for you (and not just trends) and schedule 1 to 2 sessions with a business coach to map out new create ways you can support your audience/customers.

In simpler words, bring back the enthusiasm that has gone dry. You may be surprised how everyone around you will love the new excited you!

Let’s Get Started

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It’s all social to me,
Sabrina Espinal
Sabrina&Company Social Marketing 

Image Source – Deposit Photos Free Stock

 

Make A Date With Your Social Media Series

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It’s so easy to get caught up in our day-to-day work that we forget to double check “under the hood” of our social media. Here are a few “must do” items to get you back in the game.

SOCIAL MEDIA BIOS, PROFILE & COVER PHOTO

Bio
Take 30 minutes and look at the bio/about section on all of your networks. Do a quick refresh of your bio. Next, check the links in your bios to make sure they work. You may need to update your link address from http to https.

Profile Picture
Check your profile picture. If you are good with it, leave it. If you want to refresh it, you can quickly upload a new picture or simply add a solid background and keep the same picture. Try the free profile maker at Picsart. It’s quick, easy, and it has a lot of solid background color options.

Background Cover
Look at your cover background picture (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and LinkedIn Business Page). Remember, you can add a call-to-action and link in the description of the cover photo on your Facebook business page! Hint, you can also add a link in the description of the cover photo on your PERSONAL Facebook page!

SOCIAL MEDIA POSTING
Everyone gets off-track with their social media. Take time now to put together a quick strategy plan of what you want to post about for the next few weeks and schedule your posts.

Start with posting about your business or store, new topics or items you have for sale, and why all need what you offer! Remember to link some of your posts back to your website or ordering page.

You’re going to feel good posting and talking about your business. If you find it takes too much time to write, post, and build your community, get in touch because that’s what we do for our clients.

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Sabrina Espinal
Sabrina&Company Social Marketing 

Image Source – Rawpixel Lifetime Premium Membership

 

 

 

 

Creating + Managing Your Social

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I’m thrilled and honored to be interviewed by Go Solo about my business and entrepreneur life. Go Solo and Subkit know that the “solo entrepreneur” is the future!

 

Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in marketing but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Sabrina Espinal, Founder of Sabrina&Company Social Marketing, located in New York, NY, USA.

Tell us about yourself

I came from a corporate background in tech and human resources. I had an amazing career, but over time I knew I wanted to move into something more creative, like Marketing. When social media launched for businesses, I was ready to make that move, but no one wanted to give a Human Resources Director a chance. So, in 2009, I took my career into my own hands and decided to start my own business doing this new thing called “social media.” I started with small local restaurants where I dined. And now, over ten years later, I’m still madly in love with social media, my business, creative content, and community building. I even run a small Facebook group to share the latest about social media and enjoying personal self-care.

What’s your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

My biggest accomplishment as a business owner is really a series of great ah-ha moments.

  1. Helping clients build their business from the beginning to the boom.
  2. Writing content for clients that makes their personal brand and business stand out – year after year.
  3. Having the thrill of working with amazing local and international brands…and meeting famous musicians and artists!

What’s one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?

Honestly, I think one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner is isolation. Yes, you are online with others, and you enjoy your business, but the need for human connection is very natural and important. Working in coffee shops and co-working spaces is good but seeking out real human contact is vital for feeling good. It’s also important to find real friends online that are also single business owners. It will ease your isolation, and it’s great to talk with others who speak the single business owner language!

What are the top tips you’d give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

Read The Full Article Here

Get in touch and let’s talk about freeing your time and increasing your visibility with social media.

Make An Impression
Sabrina Espinal
Sabrina&Company

Apologize The Right Way When Your Brand Messes Up

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“Oops, we didn’t mean to say that!”

That is not the way to respond when your brand inserts their foot into their mouth. Check out this great curated article from Powley and written by , writer, and PR expert.

“To set the stage, let’s look at how 2017 went for brands. I don’t know if it’s that more brands are making mistakes–or that more people now notice with social media there and always ready to spread the news—but it seems like there’s ALWAYS a company in the news for saying something it shouldn’t have said.

Missteps will happen. Some do a good job of apologizing (Southwest) while others not so much (United). Southwest’s apology was immediate and sincere, while it took United three attempts to finally begin to get it right.

So, what makes a good apology? Here are some elements it should include:

  • It should be timely: The apology should quickly follow the misstep.
  • In these days of social media, news—good or bad—can spread like wildfire.
  • Brands no longer have days, or even hours, to come up with an apology. They have to act fast. And, it’s important to get it right on the first try. If it takes you several tries (like United), you risk losing even more favor with the public.
  • It should be sincere: It goes without saying that the apology should be heartfelt and genuine. Yet, when people find themselves in a situation in which they need to apologize, they’ll often deny any wrongdoing. Why?

“Denial is the simple thing to do, and people grasp wildly at the first straw to occur to them,” said William Benoit, Ohio University Communications professor and author of Accounts, Excuses, Apologies: Image Repaid Theory and Research.

It wasn’t until Oscar Munoz, United’s CEO, appeared on Good Morning America using words like “shame” and “embarrassment” that he began to come across as more remorseful. And, United announced it would refund the fares of all the passengers on the affected flight, a gesture illustrating empathy.

  • You should take responsibility for your actions: If you’ve done something wrong, say so. Admit your error. Don’t make excuses or try to shift the blame. There’s an appreciation for simply saying, “We messed up—and we’re sorry.” Experts agree this is one of the best ways to begin rebuilding trust.
  • Just say it, plain and simple: No need to use fancy words. Simple terms are best. It’s better to use words that reflect language your audience relates to. Don’t use industry jargon.
  • Include an explanation of what happened: If it’s warranted, explaining what happened can also help folks understand—and perhaps be more forgiving.

For example, when it was revealed that PricewaterhouseCoopers was behind the debacle at the Academy Awards this year, the next day, not only did they apologize, but they offered an explanation of what happened. This helped them mend fences with the Academy.

If you need more examples, check out SorryWatch, where founders Susan McCarthy and Marjorie Ingall review public apologies each week and give advice on structure and language. For instance, they recently took a stab at dissecting Equifax’s attempt at apologizing.

And what’s the one most important piece of advice Ingall gives? If you make a mistake, don’t make excuses. “Apologizing well means acknowledging that, at that moment at least, you were not good,” says Ingall.

After all, everyone makes mistakes. It’s how you apologize that matters.”

What do you think? Do you have a problem with something that was sent via social media? Let’s talk about how to start making it right for your audience and brand. – Sabrina

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Sabrina Espinal
Sabrina&Company

Image ©Bigstock Krakenimages.com

10 Ways To Shine In Your Own Business

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Starting your own business is exciting and it can be overwhelming. Finding the right training, tools, resources, coaches, and like-minded people to support you on your journey can be difficult.  Here are a few ideas to help you build your business and keep your sanity.

PROFESSIONAL VIRTUAL TRAINING

The first stop is online training at Freelance University! Take classes and workshops for a month or sign up for a year. You can refresh or get clear on your niche, path, website, creating client packages, pricing, and everything in between. If you do take any classes, let me know. I’m a Mentor there and I would love to support you in their private online Facebook group. And the link is not an affiliate link!

FIND BUSINESS FRIENDS

Surrounding yourself with like-minded people will both motivate and inspire you to make yourself and your business a success. Fill each day with positive energy and with people that you love spending time with, even if it’s just in online groups.

Building a network of these like-minded professionals will give you access to people to bounce your ideas off of, which is so helpful when working on your own, as well as being able to learn from them too.

GET NETWORKING

It can be scary to put yourself out there but networking events are the quickest way to raise your profile in your local area. There are so many business networking events and most will welcome new visitors so prepare a short opener of what you do, take a pocket full of business cards and a smile!

INVEST IN YOURSELF

Personal growth can help us at work but also on a personal level. By taking time for yourself to experience something new or learn a new skill, you are helping stretch your mind, your comfort zone and potentially your client list.

PLAN

Making a plan of action for the year can sound scary but it’s something that has to be done. Your 12-month plan can be a working document, so you edit as you go or as things change, but without an initial plan and strategy, you won’t be able to figure out what tasks you have to do to get you to your end goals.

TAKE TIME OUT

Life can be busy and stressful which easily wipes our energy. If we’re not careful it can leave us feeling drained and, at worst, depressed and anxious. Take time to slow down and unwind, switch off and recharge. Your business needs you healthy. You need yourself healthy.

REFLECT

Taking time out to reflect on what you have achieved is a fantastic exercise, no matter what stage of business you are in. Have a monthly meeting with yourself to review your website stats, how many inquiries you received, how many new clients you took on, what digital products you sold, how many new social media followers you gained, what e-product had the most downloads, and anything else worth tracking.

When you see your figures and notes written down each month you’ll be able to see how you’re progressing, if you’re hitting any targets, and where you need to focus for next month. Be sure to celebrate all your successes, no matter how big or small the achievement.

CHALLENGE YOURSELF

Teaming with another business owner for an event or project can be an incredible way to challenge as well as push you. It holds you accountable for your own part of the agreement and you get to be a part of someone else flourishing in their line of work too which will give you such a boost.

KEEP YOUR CLIENTS HAPPY

We all know that customer service is key, but it can be easy to get complacent and expect clients to keep paying each month when really it could end at any time. No matter what other services or products you sell, our clients are our ‘bread and butter money’, they keep us going each month and we should be appreciative that they chose to spend their money with us by keeping every promise we make and sending everything when we say we will.

Send a client a card or small gift for their birthday, perhaps a voucher for their local café you know they like to work in or somewhere they take their children, anything you know they love. A small gesture could cost merely a few pounds but to them makes them feel cared for and that you really value them as a client.

WORK ON YOUR MINDSET

Our mindset is a powerful thing. When we start working alone from home after being used to a busy office of chit chat and phones ringing all day, it can be very isolating. And when our nearest and dearest don’t get what our new business is and are patronizing in their reactions, it can feel disappointing.

Some people just won’t understand what you’re doing and why… and that’s ok! As long as you know where you’re heading and what your business is all about then that’s all that matters.

If you perhaps start working with a client who isn’t a great fit for you and you’re not enjoying the work then keep a handy reminder of why you started your business nearby. You started up to work for yourself, not become an employee again.

Join Me On Instagram

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Sabrina Espinal
Sabrina&Company

 

Image ©Elisall at Twenty20
Some ideas curated from Charlotte Wibberley

 

Facebook Group Manager

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Managing a Facebook Group isn’t easy. I’m a seasoned Facebook Group Manager (Admin & Community Manager).

A Facebook Group Manager acts as the bridge between a brand and the community it inspires to create and nurture in an active Facebook Group.

I’m always savvy in creating content and managing communications in both directions. Managing all communications, PR, social media, and events, among other things.

Building relationships and strengthing brand loyalty is my thing.

Hire me as your Facebook Group Manager.

Working with Facebook communities with 500 members and up.

Sabrina’s Buzz

“Sabrina is one of the most creative individuals we have ever met and are so thankful she is a part of our team. Knowing that Sabrina has the social media aspect of our business taken care of frees us up to focus on our areas of strength in moving our business forward.

Sabrina is a go-getter” and we have the utmost confidence in her abilities which allows us to trust her implicitly and never have a doubt that the job will get done and it will be done well. Sabrina also cares for our community of students through her engaging posts, creative and supportive comments, and vast knowledge and expertise.

Sabrina is top-notch in this industry and you can’t go wrong with her on your side! Thanks, Sabrina for all you do!”

Kelly and Craig Cannings
Founders of Freelance University and VA Classroom

LET’S GET STARTED

Make An Impression.
Sabrina Espinal
Sabrina&Company Marketing