Yes, we know that the New Year started 15 days ago. And yes, we’re also aware that you most probably have already made your resolutions for this year. Yet, we feel confident that following 5 are a worthy addition to any small business owner’s list, even when they come a little late. After all, we’re in January, 2016 has just begun and there’s plenty of time to make this your year. How? We told you already – by making these resolutions and really, really work to stick to them.
1 – Think of a story to go with your brand
It’s 2016, so it’s high time to leave aside those old marketing tricks you use to attract new customers. Throw out those ads claiming you are the best of the best and that your services can change the world. It’s time to get real, since people are sick and tired of traditional marketing schemes. How do you do that? By telling a story.
Pick a concept that work for you and develop it in as many ways as possible. Make your taglines, content, photos, social media strategy and practically everything about your brand about one central idea. It’s hard work, we know, but consumers will relate a lot more to values and ideas than to a sales pitch.
2 – Renew your site
A new year, a new brand story, a new site. It’s pretty much the logical step to take and one that you should definitely want in your future. Why? Sites evolve constantly to be more modern, elegant, hip. Your business shouldn’t be out of that cycle. Look, we aren’t telling you that you should change your whole site every month, but keeping it fresh by making small changes and a major overhaul from time to time won’t hurt.
So, if you had a website redesign recently, you’re already cleared out of this one. But if you haven’t done anything in your site for a year, then it’s time to get your pencil out and go to the drawing board – it’s time to pimp your site.
3 – Learn some SEO
With all the things that you have to do to keep your business afloat, who has time to learn SEO and the like, right? Wrong. Knowing a little bit about SEO can really change your business, attracting more customers and opening new sales opportunities. And we’re not talking about learning how to make a nuclear reactor here. A few SEO tricks that even yourself can apply can make a huge difference.
Your resolution here should something like this “I will put aside some time each week to learn a little bit about that SEO thing.” You can start off by learning what SEO actually means and how it can work in your favor. Once you know this, you’ll definitely want to dive a little deeper in the subject.
4 – Embrace new tools
Each day the Internet comes with a shiny new toy we can play with to see if it’s actually worth something. Most of them come and go but a few selected ones arrive to stay and actually disrupt the industry. For early adopters, the advantage is clear in the second case. Once a tool goes mainstream, they are already there with a well-established status that benefits them right off the bat. Wouldn’t it be nice if that were you?
You can make that happen. You just have to be alert to what’s buzzing on the Web and ready to embrace anything that looks promising. You can fail in your predictions, of course, but if you are right with just one, the benefits will be amazing. You can start right now if you want, and even embrace the new tools that are already popular but that you, somehow, managed to miss.
5 – Ask for help
You read that right. You’re not Superman. You’re not even Green Lantern. You’re just a person trying to make it in the small business world. Stop thinking that all the decisions should be run by you and that you should be in charge of everything. Learn to delegate. Learn to ask for help when you need it. It’s OK if you don’t know how to do something. You’re not supposed to know it.
Help is all around you. From your family members to your employees or a marketing agency, there are lots of help levels. Even the Internet is there to lend you a hand! Just be aware of your weaknesses and quickly ask for help when you need it. Your business will grow a lot more if you let others chime in and do part of the job.
Forget about your past mistakes and stop grieving about them. Get this in your head – 2016 will finally be the year in which your business make it. With some attitude and the responsability needed to keep these resolutions, no one will be able to stop you.
Have any resolutions of your own? Tell us about them!
Photo Credit: Palo via Flickr
