Category: Business Advice

By Rachel Over the years, there have been many instances in which I’ve had multiple meetings with potential clients about their social media presence. After investing many hours in outlining potential strategies in the hopes of landing their business, many prospects have instead taken these suggestions for their own internal use rather than hiring me. […]

Editor’s note: This article was originally published in December 2012 and was updated in September 2026 to reflect what I’ve learned since then. Toward the end of 2012, my business hit a wall. Within two months, I lost six social media management clients and roughly 40 percent of my revenue. Strella Social Media was only […]

Every other month, we interview one of our management clients to ask them about their experience in social media. This month, we are delighted to interview, Justin Leader of Special Risk Insurance Services, Inc. Be sure to connect with Justin on LinkedIn and follow Special Risk on Twitter. Justin, tell us about your business, your […]

By Rachel I've found that some businesses fail to realize their full social media potential because their goals are simplistic, misguided, or unrealistic. My favorite example is the goal you’re probably thinking about right now: getting more sales! Make no mistake – increasing sales is fundamental to business success. Sales growth is also one of […]

by Ric Albano Next Saturday, November 24th has been deemed Small Business Saturday, positioned between Black Friday and Cyber Monday in the post-Thanksgiving shopping spurt. On the surface, this is a very good thing. It brings widespread awareness to small business in general and should cause consumers to think of the little noticed shops they […]

by Rachel There has been discussion between Gini Dietrich and Mark Schaefer, which I have been calling, The Great Debate. Essentially, the argument is whether or not social media really levels the playing field. According to Gini, it does because as a business, “no longer do you need millions of dollars to spend on PR […]

by Rachel I recently spoke to two banking-related non-profit organizations: The Pennsylvania Credit Union Association (PCUA) and  the Pennsylvania Association of Community Bankers (PACB). Both of these were challenging to present as the primary focus of my company relates tosocial media marketing for small businesses.  However, if I learned anything from the research for these presentations, […]

By Ric Albano of 33 Dimensions A few weeks ago, I made a mistake of omission, which set off a chain of unforeseen events. It caused a lot of problems for my client as well as a few dozen unplanned hours of problem-solving for myself. Initially, it did not appear that there would be much […]

By Rachel  Last September, I made a commitment to myself – and to my audience – to blog twice per week. That may not sound difficult being a social media professional, but like you, my clients come first so there are times when I knew that making this commitment would be a challenge. I am […]