Social Media is a series of ever-changing algorithms that are supposed to help customers better find the product or service for which they are searching.  However as entrepreneurs, social media can be a frustrating marketing tool that changes the minute you figure it out.  It is also becoming more clear that social media is not about how many posts, but what you post that will make the difference.

At Marketing Eye Dallas our job is to watch these changes and determine the best means of keeping your product or service in front of your target market.  Similar to the job of a financial advisor who watches the stock market, Marketing Eye Dallas guides its clients on when to adjust your marketing strategy, when to be patience, and when to try something new based on changes in marketing channels and tools.

If you haven't been watching every new article on the changes for each social media platform, let us fill you in on what is new.

In the past two weeks, I have had three people contact me because the website they paid to have developed was so bad that they either weren't going live with the new site or they were too embarrassed to share it.  Of the three, two I had sent a proposal to months ago and they chose a less expensive designer, and now they are looking for help and a fix.

You know the adage "Dress for the job you want not the one you have." The same applies for your business.  If you market and brand yourself for the clientele and business you want to be, people will see you as such and it will be easier to reach that level of success.

 Search Engine Optimization, or SEO, is equivalent to being invited to eat lunch at the popular table. You hope you will keep the spot at the table, but there is a lot of work you must do to stay there.  It takes patience to move up to the pinnacle of popularity and some may claim they don't care to be there. But, not sitting at the popular is like living in anonymity and no business owner wants that.

Like being popular, being on the first page of search results on Google has its perks.  So how do you get to page one?

Ah, St. Valentine’s Day, when thoughts turn to romance and finding the right partner. So much time and energy is spent chasing the object of your affection, only to find the feelings aren't mutual. And worse, you see that special someone holding hands with someone else.

We’ve all been there. We’ve all felt the pain of rejection and wondering to ourselves “What’s wrong with me?” Generally, there’s nothing wrong. In business we often feel the same. Why are my customers choosing a competitor over my product or service. The issue may not be what you are offering, but how it is being offered and perceived by you customers.

As I moved up in my corporate career, I sought out mentors.  It is amazing what I learned that helped me grow, improve and maneuver sticky situations.  As a business owner I enjoy mentoring young business men and women and seeing them grow in their career with me, above and beyond what I can offer them.

I had a call today where another business owner told me she spoke with a woman who worked for me. My former employee and she said I had helped her build her confidence enough to apply and interview for  a job she had really wanted. Guess what, she got the job.

Being a mentee and being mentored is all well and good, but  what do you do when you are at the top of the business?  You can't look to someone up-the-ladder for guidance.  This is when your enlist a coach.  

I get it, marketing is frustrating.  It's not fast, it can be unpredictable and even with modern analytics it can be difficult to measure.

What I can tell you is that if you don't put together a marketing strategy, you are as good as hiding.  If your website isn't mobile friendly and optimized, it can been like finding a needle in a haystack on Google.  Yes, people can type your business name in, but what if people don't know your name or they misspell your business name? Then what?

Every year I buy myself a new journal to keep notes from my client meetings, business ideas and new technologies I'm planning to adopt.  There is something about a blank book full of opportunities and ideas to be noted and recorded that excites me.  What does the future hold and what will the journal say in December 2016 about the past year?

As I start my journal this year, rather than starting with resolutions and goals on page one, I'm going to begin with the last page.  Writing what has been achieved, writing what the year looked like, rather than writing what the year will look like. Here is my final chapter of an amazing 2016...

This Sunday, I completed my second half-marathon.  Not bad considering this fall I was running two businesses, selling one, growing the other, raising two teens and training for a half marathon with a few injuries.  It's a  lot on a person's plate, but manageable if you train like a Badass.

What comes to your mind when you hear that someone just completed a marathon? Do you think I can do that, I've done that or why would anyone want to do that. Well, that's pretty much the same response I get when I tell people I'm an entrepreneur. 

As I spent the last few months training for the Dallas [Half] Marathon, I was reminded by how similar it is to growing my business.  Both take self-motivation, dedication, a goal and a plan to reach that goal.  They both take a Badass attitude.

No matter if you're training for a foot race or business success, here are 10 things you should do to increase your likelihood of success.

I've always said I'd rather give a speech to hundreds than mingle with a small group.  I'm pretty certain I'm not the only one. I'm not a psychologist, so I'm sure there is a more complex answer for this anxiety, but my guess is that it comes down to the fear of not being liked or more plainly stated, being rejected.  This is the same fear that exists in sales.

I love sales, or should I say I like getting the sale and working with a new interesting client.  I don't always enjoy the sales process.  I like talking to people, I like helping people, but I don't enjoy being rejected. After all, it's hard not to take rejection personally especially when you're an entrepreneur and  own the business, manage the work and do the sales. But what if there was a way to remove the rejection, would it make sales and mingling more comfortable? Could removing fear and being more likeable actually make a person more successful?