Lightning Labels Blog

Social Media Marketing for Small Business: Where to Start

Maintaining a social media presence on the Internet is vital for all businesses today, including small businesses and startups. But because there are so many different social media networks on the Internet to choose from today, it can be challenging to know where to begin. The Beginner’s Guide to Social Marketing video from Your Business Channel (featured above) gives an overview of what social media marketing is and gives some great advice for getting started with social media marketing that is tailored to small businesses like the ones that make up our customer base.

We here at Lightning Labels would love to connect with you through our social media networks. Just click on the links below, or email me at christy@lightninglabels.com and I'll send you a personal invitation.

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Related Videos

Social Media in Plain English from the Common Craft Show

Twitter in Plain English from the Common Craft Show

How to Create a Facebook Fan Page by Matthew Loop

Facebook Fan Pages: How To Create and Promote Yours by Mari Smith

Reaching the ‘Hooray Zone’ in Business

I ran across this Venn diagram  “How to Be Happy in Business” the other day on Bud Cadell’s blog, What Consumes Me, and immediately thought of the successful small businesses we have featured in our quarterly newsletter, The Lighting Flash. Whether or not they have ever seen Bud’s plan for reaching what he calls the Hooray Zone in business, they are following it. They have figured out what products and services they are most passionate about (What We Want to Do) that match their skills, talents, and resources (What We Do Well), and built their businesses on those that are most profitable (What We Can Be Paid to Do).

Like this diagram as much as I do? You can purchase a How to Be Happy in Business Poster from Zazzle.com.

“How to Be Happy in Business” Venn diagram by Bud Caddell available for distribution under Creative Commons License 2.0

Celebrating Make a Referral Week

John Jantsch at Duct Tape Marketing decided he was sick of all the bad economic news and talk of doom and gloom. So he decided to do something positive. He created Make A Referral Week for March 9-13, calling it the small business referral stimulus program. The goal is to promote small business and help stimulate the economy by making referrals to other small businesses.

Lightning Labels is participating in Make A Referral Week with this blog post. Today I am writing about one of our long time vendors, someone we have been doing business with since we started back in 2002. This company is called Masterpiece Graphix and they are the leaders in their narrow niche. What they do is coat materials for HP-Indigo presses. This is a very narrow niche but any digital label printer who has struggled with print quality issues knows coating is critical.

In order to print on HP-Indigo label presses a material must be pre-coated so that it will receive the special HP-Indigo ElectroInk. All the major label material vendors offer some materials that are pre-coated but we know from experience that no one has this process nailed down like Masterpiece Graphix. They are a small family business founded in 1998 by Doug Watson. Over the years we have found their quality to be excellent and customer service second to none. They have opened up the options for many digital label printers by allowing us to order any label material we like, not just the 10-12 most popular materials pushed by the major vendors.

I know many people in the label printing industry read this blog. If you want a reliable vendor for all your HP-Indigo coated materials then give Masterpiece Graphix a call. Tell them Lightning Labels sent you as part of Make A Referral Week.

Lightning Labels is Now on Twitter

I have been exploring Twitter for a few months now and I have come to realize that it can be a very useful business tool. What I find most useful is following the conversations of our customers many of whom are also on Twitter. I also enjoy having access to some of the smartest business minds on the planet and discovering what they are thinking about.

If you are already on Twitter then I encourage you to follow Lightning Labels. If you are wondering what all the fuss is about then here is an excellent beginners guide to Twitter targeted at business people by John Jantsch over at Duct Tape Marketing. Twitter has still only been around a short time but it continues to grow rapidly and is becoming a serious business tool.

One word of warning, Twitter can suck you in. Last year when I started playing around with it sometimes a couple of hours would go by before I realized it. Today I try and check Twitter just twice a day and I have several searches setup on Tweetdeck for our company name, and various label printing terms. This way I can find out quickly and easily what people are saying that is of interest to me. And whenever I find something useful it is very quick and easy to share it with my followers.

Twitter allows us to communicate quickly and easily. I really don't think it is the latest fad, I think it is here to stay. It is a useful addition to the marketing mix for any business.

Starting a Business Today

Seth Godin had an interesting post on his blog this morning. He was commenting on the turbulent financial times in which we live and the impact on entrepreneurs. Many might think that now would not be a good time to start a business, but Godin disagrees. He said that if he didn't already own a business he would be looking to start one now.

I know many Lightning Labels customers and readers of this blog are entrepreneurs with very small part time businesses wondering when would be a good time to quit your day job and launch full time into your business. As Godin says there will always be an excuse not to start. He points out that many of the businesses in this year's Inc. 500 were started soon after 9/11 (Lightning Labels is one such business), where times were even more turbulent than today.

We are hearing a lot of bad news these days. But this too will pass and one day a few years from now we will be reading about bold entrepreneurs who launched successful businesses in the wake of the financial disaster of '08. We look forward to printing labels for these companies.

The Season of Giving

As 2007 draws to a close I thought I would let you all know about a wonderful organization that we support here at Lightning Labels. SungateKids is on the front lines in the fight against child abuse. They help children in Colorado who have been victim to this terrible crime by advocating on their behalf and helping them begin the healing process. We believe it is important to support organizations that are making a positive difference in this world, which is why in this season of giving we gave $5,000 to SungateKids.

A Big Quarter at Lightning Labels

Today is the last day of the quarter, and it has been our best quarter ever here at Lightning Labels. Yesterday, we reached another milestone - over $1,000,000 in sales for a quarter.

When I first started this business back in 2002 my first goal was to reach $500,000 in sales for a year. Starting from nothing and shouldering a lot of debt, I thought that we would make it if we could hit that number. I knew there was an untapped market for high quality, short run labels, but I had no idea how big a market it was. We blew past that first goal in 2004 and I realized that we had far more potential than I had expected.

Today, my goals do not concern any specific sales number; my main goal now is being simply the best digital label printer. We want to use the latest technology to provide the highest quality labels in the most efficient manner possible, while at the same time giving you friendly old-fashioned customer service.  If we do this well I know we will continue to grow.

So on behalf of all of us here at Lightning Labels I would like to thank you for your continued business - we will certainly do everything we can to earn your future loyalty.

Lightning Labels Makes Inc. 5000 List

Yesterday Inc. Magazine released their annual list of the fastest growing private companies in the US. This year they have expanded their list from 500 to 5,000 companies, known as the Inc. 5000. We are delighted to announce that Lightning Labels made the list coming in at number 657. What is even more gratifying is that in the manufacturing category we are #15, and in label printing we are #2.

For those people who may feel negative about the business climate in general or specifically manufacturing companies, you should take a look at this list. There are plenty of manufacturers who are growing fast despite the threats of international competition. Here at Lightning Labels we work hard to exceed your expectations, and our great employees continue to deliver on that goal every day. That is how we are able to make a list like the Inc. 5000.

Being Tech-Savvy Helps With Business Growth

Yesterday over at the Small Business Trends blog Anita Campbell wrote about a fascinating study of small business owners and business growth. The technology products company CDW conducted a survey of the owners of mid-size companies to identify which factors helped small businesses succeed and grow.

The most interesting point of the survey is that the fastest growth were from company owners who describe themselves as "total geeks". The vast majority (73%) of these total geeks reported double digital average annual growth over the past five years versus 57% for the survey as a whole. There were plenty of other statistics that support the idea that business owners who are comfortable with technology grow their business faster than average.

Given today's business environment, I don't think these findings are surprising. When I graduated with a computer science degree 20 years ago there were very few small businesses that even had a computer. Today there are so many technology tools to help in every aspect of running a business, that you not only need a computer, you need to utilize it effectively. I can tell you that growing Lightning Labels as fast as we have would not have been possible without an intimate knowledge of today's technology.

Today you can buy the latest PC and laser printer and still get change from $1,000. You can get high speed internet access for $50/month. There is even plenty of free software out there now to help you run your business. Every small business owner should be leveraging this technology. You don't need to be an expert, but you need to be willing to learn. Spend just half an hour each week teaching yourself some new technology and you will be rewarded many times over.

The Lightning Labels Wall of Honor

Over the years we have done several stickers for the military. We support our troops by offering a 50% discount for any active military personnel who wants a sticker of their unit patch. We have done military stickers for all four branches of the military, including the unit patch for several units serving in the Middle East.

When we provide these stickers we always ask for a photograph of their unit, and we have had some wonderful pictures sent back. Recently we gathered all these photos, along with sticker samples and sometimes an accompanying letter from the unit commander, and created what we call the Wall of Honor. Whether or not you agree with the war, I think everyone should support the people who are risking their lives every day. The Wall of Honor is our dedication to these people.