So far this year, our economy has experienced some extreme ups and downs. With record breaking inflation, record gas prices and talks about a recession, it’s no surprise that more and more people are brainstorming ideas of how to increase their revenue.
Whether you’ve been in business for years, or are just toying with the idea of starting a business or side hustle, it’s our goal to assist you with knocking your goals out of the park even when life is uncertain and confusing. So what can you do as a business owner to get started on the right path and continue to grow even when you’re worried about the future?
We live in a world of constant change, and as such it can be hard and confusing to know what will work best for your business. It’s easy enough though – all you need is some structure! Making an effort on this front helps with both motivation and positions you to stay active in your business when things get tough because there will always only be 24 hours in a day.
Here are four tips to keep you motivated, on track and position yourself to stay active in your marketing:
Have a Marketing Plan – This tip shows up over and over again in the various posts I write for a good reason. That reason is simply because marketing plans work. Having a marketing plan begins with brainstorming and then organizing your ideas. Grab a glass of wine, sit down and get to work thinking about what you want for your business. I use a template with our clients that urges them to choose themes for each month. Whether the theme influenced their offerings for the month, or the offerings influenced the theme really didn’t matter. Once you have clearly written details on what each month in your business is focused on, you can then get more specific about what kind of content you create that supports that theme. It serves as your pathway so that when it’s time to do the work, you know exactly what you should be focusing on. We all have those days where it seems like nothing is going right. You spend hours working on something and then when you finally launch, no one gives a hoot! But as difficult as that may sound – there’s hope for us yet because if we can learn to put our best foot forward from the start by creating an outline or plan before diving into anything else then maybe things will go much smoother with preventing writer’s block.
Choose and focus on the essential items – There are lots and lots of tasks you can work on in your business. There’s the ever growing list of social media channels, email marketing, blogging, brand recognition, reputation and the list goes on. When you start seeking pointers and tips from experts, you’re destined to get tons of competing ideas as to where you need to be showing up. My advice is to first show up where your audience is and commit to doing only those things. Let’s say for example, you’re specifically trying to work with millennials, you will find that TikTok is a place where they hang out. Focusing on creating amazing content for TikTok and Instagram should be your primary concern. Once you drill down to your perfect audience and where they hang out, set goals for yourself that you can succeed with. Don’t make a promise that you’re going to post 5 times a day and then stop doing it after only a few weeks because you found out it was not an attainable goal. This is a surefire way to damage your reputation and your relationship with your prospects.
Connect Emotionally & Authentically – People want to buy from people they know/like/trust. I cannot say this enough. Thanks to social media and the inundation of hundreds of sales messages we all receive every day, we have become smarter consumers. We know when we are being sold to and cold sleezy sales messaging is a turnoff to anyone. Show up as you, be real, make emotional connections.
Make it easy for people to know what your offerings are – This should be a no-brainer, but you’d be amazed by the number of people that hide their offerings or make themselves inaccessible to a prospective customer. You don’t have to have a big fancy website to have a successful business, but it is absolutely essential for people to know how to reach you, exactly what you’re offering and what it will cost them. Equally as important is for them to get a response from you within 3 minutes of them trying to reach you that lets them know that you got their message. This response (text and email) can, and should be automated. There will always be times when you or your team are tied up and if the prospect/customer doesn’t receive that immediate gratification, they will move on to someone else. This is the minimum standard. If you make it difficult for people to know who you are, what you do and how to work with you, they will simply go somewhere else.
As entrepreneurs, we can sometimes be our own worst enemies. We want to do it all, and if we’re not careful, we’ll spread ourselves too thin and end up achieving nothing. That’s why having a plan is so important. When you have a plan in place, you know what you need to do each day to move closer to your goals. You also know when it’s time to take a break or change course. And most importantly, you have something to show for all your hard work at the end of the day (or week…or month…).
Competitors may be louder and more visible, but that doesn’t mean they are the only ones doing business. By having a plan in place, reducing writer’s block, and knowing what to do (and not do), you can stand out from the noise and make an impression on your ideal client. With a little bit of effort, you’ll be well on your way to finding more clients fast!
