Crystal Washington offers strategic marketing consulting and social media planning at $250 per hour.  Meetings are conducted in person, for Houston clients, or via Skype, for national and international clients.  Contact Crystal Washington today to create your own strategic marketing and/or social media plan!

Social Media Consulting

As a corporate professional or entrepreneur, social networks can both strengthen and add to your current activities to gain clients, secure greater career opportunities and build your company’s brand.  Social networks like LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Slideshare, Foursquare and many more can be valuable tools.  However, navigating they “hype” to discover those two to three networks and strategies that will best help you accomplish your specific goals can be daunting.  Having a profile is not enough.  The vast majority of professionals using social networks for business lack profiles that clearly outline what they do, what they need, and what they want.  Additionally, social networks can become a black hole, devouring valuable time.  If not planned properly, professionals can leave themselves open to legal and even job security issues.  Companies cannot afford to avoid or ignore social networks.  Clients and customers are talking and you need to know what they are saying.  Many public relations mishaps have been avoided by observing comments made on social media and quickly addressing and rectifying issues via social networks like Facebook and Twitter.

Social media is for dialogue, not monologue. Crystal will help you facilitate two way conversations with your contacts, clients and target market, empowering you with the technology and techniques to develop a social media strategy.

Crystal will help you:

• Stop wasting times on the wrong networks! Select the best social networks based on your specific goals.
• Never feel “lost” again. Understand the purpose and functions of your chosen networks.
• Look like a professional and attract other professionals. Brand your profiles.
• Get the results you want. Optimize your profiles for search and viewing.
• Become more effective and efficient! Utilize tools that will connect your social networks and automate some processes, allowing you to share information quickly and spend less time on social networks.
• Monitor your brand. Consistently track what others are saying about you.
• Measure ROI. Track the effectiveness of your time spent on social networks.

Marketing Consulting

Entrepreneurs often face the dilemma of unorganized marketing.  Because business owners are concerned with “doing” the business, they often use the “spray and pray” marketing; they just try things and hope something sticks.

Marketing strategy is an integral part of business.  In fact, whether you know it or not, you are constantly marketing.  The problem is that many entrepreneurs’ marketing is on autopilot, causing them to miss out on revenue opportunities and consistently feel the stress of coming up with the “next big idea”.  Allow Crystal to help you crystallize your vision and increase your bottom line revenue.

Suggested Marketing Agenda

• Evaluate your current methods and existing tactics.
• Identify your target market(s), niche(s) and specific goals.
• Research your target market, industry and environment.
• Plan strategies, tactics and tools to help you accomplish your goals.
• Implement your new plan!

Networking Consulting

Many professionals have tried networking briefly, and because they don’t receive immediate results, they decide it “just doesn’t work” for them.  The problem is that many professionals do not understand that networking is simply the act of building mutually-beneficial relationships.

Networking is for EVERYONE.  It’s simply a matter of understanding your goals, what you have to offer, joining the right networks and having a plan in place for maintaining and strengthening relationships.

Remember, each new contact is not only one contact. That person connects you and your business, indirectly, to their entire network, which could run to hundreds, if not thousands, of potential clients.  THAT is the power of networking.

Some professionals have the additional hurdle of shyness.  However there are several techniques that can help even the shyest wall flower build great relationships.

Let Crystal help you overcome your fears of networking, identify where you should be networking to accomplish your goals and, most importantly, discover tricks and online tools to help you build solid relationships versus fill boxes with unused business cards.