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If you own a small business and aren’t getting the results from it that you expect, or if your small business has stagnated and isn’t moving forward, this post is for you. The good news is that you have an established business of sorts and you can build on that, the key is to make some new objectives that are relevant to your business plan and work towards achieving them.
Read on to find out more about target setting, SEO and digital marketing, infrastructure, analytics, and social media.
Set Targets
It’s true that Rome wasn’t built in a day, but it was eventually built, which would have happened without some proactivity on the part of the Romans. Your business is the same; it requires both patience and effort.
Without targets and clear business objectives, your business will slide into lethargy and inactivity – even if you are still earning from it your earning will likely be a fraction of what they could be potentially. The path to success is lined with objectives.
These objectives can be small things like creating content for your blog or social media accounts, it could be making better graphics for your brand, or planning promotions to boost your visibility. The key is not to stand still – stay on the move.
Use SEO
Unless you’ve been living in a café for the past two decades or you somehow beamed in from the past, you should know what SEO is and how it works. If you don’t you can start your journey here.
SEO determines how you rank on the search engine results pages and how relevant your content is to individual searches, as a result, it largely determines how visible you are to customers and potential customers.
These days SEO has diversified. There is now more that major search engines can go to determine relevance and there are more search engines to work with including social media sites and video search engines.
Get Legal
If you were building a house you would start with the roof and work towards the foundations, would you? But that’s the way a lot of new businesses set up, they want profits first and forget about infrastructure.
Infrastructure such as health and safety policy, legal protocol, and contents insurance are foundational pillars for your business and should be the first thing you attend to before thinking about market research and profit.
The trouble is that many entrepreneurs starting out aren’t aware of the business foundations required, as a result, they tend to neglect this fundamental aspect of their business – if you need more advice on this there are top solicitors to contact.
Use Analytics
In the past businesses of all sizes used direct mail to contact potential customers. This direct mail was carefully crafted by copywriters and marketing people and it was often successful at generating leads.
The problem was that it was hard to tell where those leads came from. Did the customer arrive from the ad in the direct mail campaign or the ad in the newspaper – there was no way to know.
With Analytics there is now a sophisticated algorithmic system to help businesses identify which ads work and which don’t. This means marketing campaigns can be optimized which leads to more conversion and more happy customers.
Use Social Media
The Internet is essentially a global communication tool, so it’s no wonder that social media sites have become so popular. It’s also not surprising that commerce has taken hold of social media and all of its excellent capabilities for engaging with customers and promoting brands.
These days you need to use social media to make your business world because that is where the majority of your customers are. There are currently 3.96 billion people using social media worldwide so you can bet you will reach the majority of your customers.
But there is also a craft behind using social media. You can’t just go storming into the social space and plastering your brand everywhere – it will have the opposite effect of what you’re looking for. Instead, engage with your customers as your would friends on social media.
Network
One of the first rules of making your business work is to never standstill. If you do you risk stagnating and procrastinating which not only affects your revenue streams and your customer base but also your reputation.
Networking can help you to stay active and relevant in your field, making connections that matter and staying on top of the latest developments and innovations. People you meet through your industry network will become your future partners, customers, and collaborators.
These days business networking is easier than ever, using social media you can quickly connect to groups and people who count and make your brand relevant. If you want your business to work for your you need to work for your business as well.
If you run a small business that isn’t currently meeting your expectations don’t worry, there is plenty you can do to turn that ship around and make it a more profitable enterprise. Don’t sit still. Make achievable goals and targets for your day and week and see how they fit into your overall business plan. Remember to use digital technology.
