Is 2023 the year you... Make your hobby a side hustle? Start your own business? Or work on taking your business to the next level?
The "Small Business and Side Hustles" newsletter connects you to Library and community resources and programs to help you start or build your business! Read it here on the library website or sign up for the newsletter on our Library U enrollment page!
May’s newsletter prepares you for two upcoming Life Lit workshops at the Main Library with the University of North Florida’s Florida Small Business Development Center. Florida SBDC at UNF provides management assistance and training to any prospective or existing small-business owner in North Florida.
Thursday, June 1 at 2 p.m.: Life Lit: Social Media and Marketing.
Get answers to all your small business questions on marketing and social media in this free workshop, hosted by SBDC. Taylor Kennedy, a business consultant at FSBDC at UNF, will be hosting. Taylor specializes in marketing, social media, website development & SEO, networking, business management, and team development.
Friday, June 9 at 2 p.m.: Life Lit: The Thrills of DIY Business and Event Tabling.
Join David Heringer with the FSBDC as he dives into the world of convention vending and gives some simple tips and tricks that can help to keep attendees engaged at your booth and maximize your sales potential…after all, it is a small business you are trying to run! David Heringer is an SBDC consultant, author, musician, convention runner and entrepreneur with 25 years of experience in the creative arts & entertainment industry. He is currently prepping for the 9th year of his event, Infinity Con, and owns a mobile VR game and escape room business. He lives in Lakes City, FL, with his wife, Nina and two children, Cece and Cole.
#Featured Resource: Linkedin Learning
Learn relevant, professional skills for FREE on LinkedIn Learning. All you need is your library card and PIN to enjoy unlimited access to 16,000+ on-demand courses in seven languages – all taught by passionate, expert instructors with real-world experience. Build career-boosting business know-how and explore hundreds of topics in management, leadership, and marketing!
#Follow Up After a Sales Meeting
Stop your sales deals from going cold. In this on-demand course, Steve Benson, a top sales coach and expert, shares practical strategies for following up with prospects in a way that keeps the momentum of a great sales meeting going. When it comes to closing deals, stellar presentations aren’t always enough to clinch a sale. Learn the ingredients for a powerful follow-up; how to tackle common objections such as “I’ll think about it”; and how to evade common pitfalls, including which phrases to avoid in your follow-up email or calls.
#Social Media Marketing: ROI
This course aims to help users of social media prove its value, beyond vanity metrics such as likes or comments. You can learn the skills you need to measure and drive ROI from organic social media, without needing to spend a penny on advertising. Expert Michael Taylor covers the measurements that really matter—from conversation amplification to the word-of-mouth coefficient—and shows how to define and track them using tools such as Google Analytics. He then explains how to turn insight into action and drive continuous improvement for a business. Learn high-performing tactics for major platforms including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Reddit, and LinkedIn, and reverse-engineer emerging channels like TikTok.
#Books We Recommend
In the newly revised and updated edition of Everybody Writes, marketer and author Ann Handley improves on her Wall Street Journal bestselling book that's helped hundreds of thousands become better, more confident writers. Get the practical, how-to advice and insight you need for the process and strategy of content creation, production, and publishing. Learn how to attract and retain customers with stellar online communication; how to choose your words well, sparingly, and with honest empathy for your customers; best practices and ideas for crafting credible, trustworthy content; and more.
The secret to successful word-of-mouth marketing on the social web is easy: BE LIKEABLE. A friend's recommendation is more powerful than any advertisement. In the world of Facebook, Twitter, and beyond, that recommendation can travel farther and faster than ever before. Likeable Social Media helps you harness the power of word-of-mouth marketing to transform your business. Listen to your customers and prospects. Deliver value, excitement, and surprise. And most important, learn how to truly engage your customers and help them spread the word.
Based on Donald Miller's bestselling book Building a StoryBrand, Claire Diaz-Ortiz applies the seven principles of the StoryBrand Framework to help you build an effective, long-lasting social media plan for your brand.
Most business owners are blindly guessing at their social media strategy, and it's costing them time and money. This book teaches you how to incorporate the StoryBrand 7-Part Framework into their social media channels to increase engagement and see better results. Note: Social Media Success for Every Brand does not require you to be familiar with Building a StoryBrand, but provides enough foundation to prepare you for practical success in boosting customer engagement and growing your organization's brand awareness and revenues.
Since its original publication in 2010, Kari Chapin's The Handmade Marketplace has inspired thousands of crafters around the world to find the courage and know-how they need to make money -- and even to make a full-time living -- from doing what they love best. Now, this best-selling guide has been completely revised and updated to include solid information on the latest online and social media opportunities for sales and marketing, as well as fresh advice and invaluable tips from successful crafters and artists. With Kari Chapin at your side, you can live a more creative life and enjoy a lucrative career at the same time.
How can you make a significant impact in the digital world and stand out among all the noise? Kane will teach you how to gain an authentic, dedicated, and diverse online following from scratch; create personal, unique, and valuable content that will engage your core audience; and build a multi-media brand through platforms like Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat, and LinkedIn. Featuring in-depth interviews with celebrities, influencers, and marketing experts, including: Chris Barton, cofounder and board director of Shazam and former head of Android business development for Google; Ray Chan, CEO and cofounder of 9GAG; Julius Dein, internet personality and magician with nearly 16 million Facebook followers ; Mike Jurkovac, Emmy Award-winner and creative director of will.i.am and the Black Eyed Peas; Phil Ranta, former COO of Studio71 and VP of network at Fullscreen; Eamonn Carey, managing director at Techstars London; Jonathan Skogmo, founder and CEO of Jukin Media, Inc.; Jon Jashni, founder of Raintree Ventures and former president and chief creative officer of Legendary Entertainment.
