Build Your Own Brand and Be Your Own Boss: Tips To Go From Just Thinking About Entrepreneurship To Just Doing It

September 20, 2013 by Leave a Comment
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Build Your Own Brand and Be Your Own Boss: Tips To Go From Just Thinking About Entrepreneurship To Just Doing It

by Frederika Angus

Wealth. Excitement. Opportunity. Family. Change. Freedom. Control.

There are a variety of reasons why business owners take the leap of faith into entrepreneurship including those on list above. While those general reasons will get you started, it takes more than inspiration, desire and hope to build a brand that you are passionate about and sparks lasting loyalty from your customers and brands.

Branding when done right will help you be found, be heard and be profitable. As you begin to build and grow your business brand and work for yourself, keep these tips in mind.

1. To thine own self be true – Ok so I didn’t originally pen this one but in order to build a business and brand that attracts your ideal client, nothing is more important than being yourself. As I work with different clients on bringing their professional and business brands online, we often take a look at what others are doing in the marketplace to determine their online business model, product offering, marketing message and the overall brand experience. The goal in this activity is not to replicate, duplicate or even imitate what similar brands are doing. It helps to further refine what they like and do not like. Every brand has its own DNA and as you create the business and life of your dreams remember to #BeBrandYou. Be authentic, be unique and remember be true to who you are.

2. Branding what you know helps your business grow – Simply put expertise sells. If you’re looking to start a business that will create a lasting legacy for generations to come, it’s best you start with what you know. If you don’t have a clue about baking, starting a business coaching other bakers is a recipe (pun intended) for instant failure and disappointment. It’s also faulty to believe that just because someone else you like and respect is doing something that you will be able to get the same results that they have. You can have the same ability and know how but if it isn’t your highest level of mastery you’ll find yourself frustrated. It isn’t important that your brand master everything. Start small, use what you know, and grow from there.

3. Even the strongest person needs support – Visionary entrepreneurs have dreams that seem to be bigger than life itself. As a mom of 4, I can tell you with all certainty that while you can carry a baby alone, delivering that baby is not something that you want to do alone. You want a team of people ready to help and support you. The same is true of your business “baby.” Get your support team around you that includes, mentors, graphic designers, legal counsel, accountants, web developers and assistants. While you can do much of the work on your own, having support allows your brand to go so much further.

I had the opportunity and honor to sit down with an awesome Virtual Assistant coach, Tiffany Parson and discuss how I got started in business and work from the comfort of my home daily. This interview really is the insider look at how I went from employee to entrepreneur as I build a brand and enjoy being my own boss. Included are tips on how to get started, tools I use in my business daily and exactly what you need to get your business started online. I invite you to listen to the interview NOW! 

Be sure to let me know over on my Facebook page what you learned from the interview!

Talk to you soon!

Frederika Angus

Filed Under: Branding, Entrepreneurship Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

The Power of Social Media Consistency on Building Your Brand

July 22, 2013 by Leave a Comment
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The Power of Social Media Consistency on Building Your Brand

by Frederika Angus

“He’s there every morning,” I thought as a drove by the familiar white house with the large porch. “I wonder where he is. Is he ok?” I further wondered as I continued down the street.

He is the older guy that sits on his porch every morning, sometimes alone but often with friends, and waves to the cars and their passengers on their way about their daily travels. During the summer, I look forward to taking the (quiet) drive back home from dropping my boys off at summer camp. Not only because of the quiet, but also because this gentleman gives me something to look forward to.

You could certainly say that his wave to each passerby everyday is not such a big deal. Why would that be a highlight of my morning routine? I don’t even know his name!

Today our method of connection is a little different from that of generations before us. Instead of waiting for letters to be delivered from the postal service, we send emails. Text messages have replaced my personal favorite way to communicate with other kids in class, passing intricately folded notes containing instructions for the recipient to check a box “yes, no or maybe so.” Facebook and Twitter and other social media platforms have moved in front of sitting down on the front porch or gathering in the backyard to talk with our neighbors and friends.

The world we live in today has fostered our digital connections and that isn’t a bad thing. I sometimes hear the complaints of those who wish that things would go back to the days where things were simple and people actually talked and developed “real connection.”

Brene’ Brown states in her book Daring Greatly that “connection is why we’re here. We are hard-wired to connect to others, it’s what gives purpose and meaning to our lives.”

I propose to you that our  social connections help foster the meaning and purpose that we bring to others and also to our own lives. Connecting online through email, social media and via our smartphones expands the number of people that our businesses and brands are able to reach.

But what does social media have to do with the missing guy sitting on the porch that waves everyday?

Everything.

This gentleman has impacted my day by his consistency. And if he can do it with just a simple wave, how much more can your brand use social platforms to impact many more by showing up daily?

Your consistency is key when it comes to using social media to help your brand to be found, be heard and be profitable. Engaging with your fans is not a sometime thing but an everyday activity. Just like the man on the porch, when you show up consistently those that follow you come to expect you and a deeper connection is built. People begin to stop paying attention if you do not maintain a consistent presence. With all of the distractions social media, consistency helps your brand to break through the clutter.

Take some time every day to check your social media profiles, respond to fans, ask questions, and start conversations. You’ll build a brand that people can connect to and trust!

I believe in you!

Frederika Angus

Filed Under: Social Media Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Faith and Fear In Your Life and Business

July 11, 2013 by Leave a Comment
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Faith and Fear In Your Life and Business

by Frederika Angus

This week we returned from a wonderful family vacation in Tennessee. Taking a break from the everyday norm is so necessary. Particularly as a business owner it helps to rejuvenate and refresh you. Unlike many of our vacations, we had no agenda or plan for what we would do. With no alarms set we focused on enjoying family time together, seeing relatives, spending time on the lake along with lots of food, fun and laughs.

 

 

During our time away the kids also played unspeakable hours of video games. Instead of complaining about the amount of time they spent entertaining themselves while it rained outside, I made it a point to get into their world and experience those things they enjoy. We usually have great conversations and I can relate some teachable moments because everyone’s guard is down. (Parenting tip!)

Learning to play Mario Kart provided a lot of laughter and jokes. (I crash more than I drive!) At one point I was pressing both the buttons to go forward and go in reverse at the same time. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realize it is impossible to go both in a forward and backward motion simultaneously. Everyone else was passing me by in the race because I was basically stuck in neutral. No progress was being made although I had the same tools everyone else playing did. I was holding my own self back.

How many times have you felt just like I did with your business and life? Knowing that you have the potential to go just like everyone else but feel like everyone else is passing you by?

Are you pumping the brakes to your success?

brake-gas-pedal-quote

Cars do not move if you have your foot on both the gas and brakes at the same time. The same is true with the vision you have for your business and life. Faith is the gas that moves you and the vision for your life and business forward. It accelerates you. Fear, however, slows momentum down to a slow crawl and eventually a halt if applied long enough.

You may see fear in your life and business any many different ways. Fear could be showing up through procrastination, not outsourcing or getting help, doubting you ability or value and even failing to follow up and follow through with friends, family and clients.

Dale Carnegie said, “Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy.”

So release the brakes of fear and take action.

I believe in you!

Talk to you soon,

Frederika Angus

Filed Under: Mindset

You Are Now Free to Fly

July 4, 2013 by Leave a Comment
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You Are Now Free to Fly

by Frederika Angus

Here in the United States, we are celebrating the 4th of July or Independence Day. By this afternoon, backyards and parks will be filled with family and friends gathered together to celebrate the holiday. Fireworks will fill the night sky as we look up with childlike wonder at colorful displays with reverence the freedom we have.

But what does freedom really mean?

Freedom is defined as 1) The right to speak or act without restriction, interference, or fear, or; 2) a country’s right to rule itself, without interference from, or domination by, another country or power, or; 3) the state of being unaffected by, or not subject to, something unpleasant or unwanted.

On today, I believe the 2nd part of that definition is what immediately comes to mind. But the freedom that we have and live daily is more than a corporate freedom by default of living in a free country. I believe freedom is much more personal than that and can be expressed regardless of the location or country in which you live.

Daily, I’m honored to serve brilliant entrepreneur and visionary business owners all over the world. When asked how they started their business, you’ll the hear multiple stories from just looking to add an additional (or primary) income, chasing dreams to turn their passion to profit, being laid off, wanting to bring a bigger change to the problems they see around them or even just sick and tired of being sick and tired of the same thing day after day. While each story is individual in details, you can hear woven together in the telling of their business beginnings one common thread; business gives you freedom to be and do what you love.

And on the surface it means, you get to do what you want, when you want, if you want. But much on a much deeper level your business has the right to speak a message of light to those in darkness, and the ability to share hope and show love to every person you serve. You are free to face your own fears BOLDY and say, “I do not choose to shrink down and accept what is given to me. I am determined to take leaps of faith (often daily) to build and create the business and life that I love!”

Bald Eagle Soaring

You are now free to fly!

Take a look at that definition again! You can speak and act without fear. You can look at limitations and restrictions and choose to go over, around and even through any hinderance to you living your best life right now. You can choose to not be affected by those things that are unpleasant or unwanted. Freedom is your right to live as a creator of your circumstance based on what you say and do! You can soar like an eagle.

So today and everyday remember that you have the right and full on permission to be more and impact many others with your business and your life. See you in the friendly skies. You are free to fly!

Talk to you soon!

Frederika Angus

 

 

Filed Under: Mindset, Motivational Moment Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Charlotte Area Digital Marketing Consultant, Frederika Angus, Partners with HootSuite

June 5, 2013 by Leave a Comment
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Charlotte, NC June 5, 2013 –  http://nextlevelvision.com – Charlotte based digital marketing and branding consulting firm NextLevelVision.com and Frederika Angus are proud to announce that we are now HootSuite Certified and also a HootSuite Solution Partner.

HootSuite is a social media management system for businesses and organizations to collaboratively execute campaigns across multiple social networks from one secure, web-based dashboard. Key social network integrations include Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google+, plus a suite of social content apps for YouTube, Flickr, Instagram, Yammer, Tumblr and more.

Understanding and unleashing the power of social media for businesses to connect with and impact people has long been a passion for Frederika Angus. After over 12 years working with Fortune 100 clients such as Wells Fargo, Bank of America and Allstate, she has brought her digital marketing experience to businesses large and small to help their brands be found, be heard and be profitable. Partnering with HootSuite brings increased support for businesses and their teams using social media to reach their ideal clients.

“Companies are taking advantage of being able to reach and engage with their ideal client right where they are. In this smart-device driven society, social networks are the new meeting places to exchange ideas, share stories and connect with the things that are important to us. Marketing to those clients online, especially through social media, is a critical part of an overall marketing strategy” said Frederika Angus, CEO of NextLevelVision.com. “HootSuite is a leader in social media management systems that scales from solo small business owners to large, multi-department companies. Our clients demand strong platforms to support their social media campaigns and we are pleased to be HootSuite Certified Professionals to serve our clients.”

Frederika Angus is a strong proponent of Digital Marketing and creates, manages and executes projects that help businesses get in front of their ideal clients, increase website traffic and sell products and services. Her solution offerings including, website design, social media branding and management, blog content management, keyword research for Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Pay-Per-Click (PPC) campaigns, aid her clients in attracting the right customers, right in time.

NextLevelVision.com has built a social media marketing process by using the HootSuite concepts of Engage, Collaborate, Analyze and Secure:

Engage: Optimize your audience engagement by creating search streams, scheduling messages and monitoring all of your social network profiles from one customizable web and mobile dashboard.

Collaborate: Invite clients and colleagues to participate in your social media management. Assign messages for follow up and share streams, helping you increase efficiency.

Analyze: Measure your efforts using over 40 social analytics modules to build and share custom reports. Or select from one of our pre-made templates for quick and easy reporting.

Secure: Share access with team members without compromising security. The team permission levels and advanced sharing options ensure you remain in control of your valuable social profiles and accounts.

Frederika Angus currently has a special offer for HootSuite Pro – Sign up for a 30-day free trial of HootSuite Pro now http://bit.ly/HootSuiteProFree

Filed Under: Press Release, Social Media Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

5 Internet Marketing Tips for Local Businesses

May 29, 2013 by Leave a Comment
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5 Internet Marketing Tips for Local Businesses

by Frederika Angus

Local business marketing online

As a local business you have a great opportunity using internet marketing and social media. Your small business is able to use the internet and social media to be found, strengthen your brand, connect with your current and potential patrons and also boost your SEO ranking. Establishing and expanding your reach online is important in today’s instant access to information, smartphone society. Online marketing keeps your brand’s name at the top of your customers’ mind when they need your products or services.

Here are 5 tips to help your local business get results and see the benefits from your online presence.

1. Use WordPress as your website platform to blog weekly. WordPress plays so beautifully with search engines such as Google. When it comes to Search Engine Optimization (SEO), this helps to pull your website up on to the first page of results because it sees your consistent new blog info. There are also a couple really great SEO plugins that make adding your keywords so easy throughout the entire site.

2. Name the URL of your posts and pages with your local area city and one main keyword phrase. If you are an italian restaurant in Dallas, TX (using WordPress as your platform), you can easily add italian-restaurant-dallas-texas to the URL text. When customers are looking for a great italian dinner in Dallas, your website will begin to be shown to them. Simple boost to website traffic and eyes on your business!

3. Establish a Google+ page in the local category. Google is the top search engine used on daily basis. Users are able to discover the new Google+ Local pages in several ways: through a search on Google.com or Google Maps, in mobile apps or through a search on Google+.

4. Create and use Facebook and Twitter daily. For many, social media is the first thing they check in the morning when they awaken and the last thing they read at night. Be sure your local business has a dedicated Facebook like page (Read more on why you shouldn’t use a Facebook profile page) and Twitter page. Post updates regularly throughout the day to connect with you customers.

5. Share your brand visually. It is often said that a picture is worth a thousand words. Share behind the scenes photos in your office, marketing and promotional images, employees of the month, store front specials and decor. People will begin to feel like part of the culture of your business and this helps you build trust and credibility for your brand.

Have these tips helped you? Be sure to leave me a comment below!

Talk to you soon!

Frederika Angus

Filed Under: Online Marketing, Social Media Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

What’s new at NextLevelVision.com

May 23, 2013 by Leave a Comment
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Lots of excitement has been going on in the NextLevelVision.com office. Here’s some quick updates:

Spring Cleaning

We’ve rebranded our website using a theme on the Genesis platform. We started out with Thesis and still love it for it’s ease of configuration. Genesis is also very similar to Thesis in the SEO benefits and ability to quickly make changes without needing to pull your hair out.  If you haven’t been to the website lately, be sure to stop by and look around. If you have been thinking about refreshing the look, theme, feel and layout of your website, we’d be glad to help you find the right platform and theme to fit your business needs. Contact us and let us know how we can serve you!

Online Marketing Business Brand Checklist

Branding your business online can be confusing, stressful and overwhelming. There are so many tactics and strategies that it is often difficult to know what to do. We’ve created a checklist of what you need to do, step-by-step, to setup and implement all the pieces of a successful online branding strategy. Download your free copy today. http://nextlevelvision.com/online-business-brand-checklist-takes-guesswork/

New solution offering

With over 12 years of experience in program, project and product management we’ve decided to open our Virtual Project Management services up to our clients to help you be more effective and efficient with the work that needs to happen in your business. Undone work leaves money on the table and our goal is to ensure that you and your brand are being found, being heard and being profitable. If you need systems of processes created and documented, products launched, membership and coaching programs implemented, we are here to help turn your business goals into results. This frees you up to go be brilliant at what you do best.

Online Marketing Lunch and learn series

Each month I meet with savvy business owners and discuss online marketing topics that help them achieve results. The training is FREE, quick (only 30 minutes out of your day) and recorded. The goal is to keep you on the top of your game without having to spend hours doing your own research. You get to leverage my experience and expertise to move your brand to the next level online. Our next session is today, May 23rd, 2013 at 12pm EST/9am PST. If you aren’t already registered, go sign-up now at http://nextlevelvision.com/lunch.

Finally, we want to share a heartfelt thank you for your continued support. We have seen many of you grow from a seed into a tree in full bloom with your businesses. When you are successful, we are successful. If there is something we can do to better support you, if you have questions we can answer that will help you get unstuck and moving forward, don’t hesitate to let us know.

We love you all!

Talk to you soon,

Frederika Angus

Filed Under: Branding

How Secure is your WordPress Website?

April 15, 2013 by Leave a Comment
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How Secure is your WordPress Website?

Frederika Angus

security for wordpress website

WordPress for business websites is easy. It allows users to setup, update and maintain content and information quickly. Using WordPress also makes online marketing easier than having to understand coding languages like HTML or PHP. It is a great platform for any size business.

Late last week, according to HostGator a “global attack on WordPress installations across virtually every web host in existence” was identified. It doesn’t just impact the self-hosted versions but the WordPress.com sites as well. 10s of thousands of WordPress based websites have been left vulnerable.

While it’s a little scary to think all the hard work and the investments you’ve made into your website could be destroyed, there are some simple steps you can take to keep your site safe from hackers, spammers and malware.

Easy Steps to Secure Your Website

– Backup your website. If you ever find your website hijacked by hackers or even just lose access to your website, having a backup keeps you from having to start from scratch. At minimum, your full WordPress website should be backed up once a month and your WordPress databases daily (or weekly) depending on how often new content is added to your site.

– Always maintain the latest and greatest version of the WordPress core. WordPress works to identify and close any open areas that makes it easy for others to access your website without your permission. Not only do the WordPress software updates add new and improved features, you are protecting your website.

– Update your theme and plugins. Good theme and plugin developers maintain and guard against any holes in their software that could allow access into your website. WordPress gives alerts in the backend dashboard to update both themes and plugins so you will know when to do so.

– Discontinue usage of common administrator username. Usernames such as “admin,” “test,” “administrator,” “Admin,” and “root” are the most commonly used and are being targeting during this current attack. Create a unique username with admin user rights and you will be ahead of the others in avoiding your site being hacked and spammed.

– Change your password regularly. Ensure to use numbers, mixed case (upper and lower case letters) and symbols to make it more difficult to guess.

– Use security plugins that add a layer of protection. This includes login limiting plugins, and security specific plugins.

All these tasks can be overwhelming with all the other tasks you need to complete in running your company, especially if you are limited in your technical expertise. Check out the WordPress maintenance services I offer. We’d be glad to come along side of you and keep your WordPress website safe, secure and up-to-date every month while you continue the activities that make you money.

Talk to you soon!

Frederika Angus

 

 

Filed Under: Wordpress Website Tagged With: , , , , ,
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