The New Year is upon us…
and whether it’s trying to eat better, to quit smoking once and for all, to spend less money, or to spend more time with family and friends, we formally or informally create our own goals — optimistic that we’ll stick to them this year.
[source: Odessa Hispanic] In this light, We’ve assembled our top New Year’s resolutions for the small business owner. Enjoy!
Go small. You want customers to support the concept of small business, right? This means you should adopt a small business mindset at your own business too. Analyze your current vendors and service providers for opportunities to “downsize.” If you find any opportunities to support a small business instead, whether virtual or brick and mortar, aim to switch at least one vendor or supplier.
Go mobile. By 2015, more U.S. Internet users will access the Web through mobile devices than through PCs. On average, 15% of all searches on Google today are from a mobile device. How well are you catering to this mobile population? Let this be the year you optimize your search marketing, email marketing and Website to focus on this growing mobile community.
Go local. These mobile users are constantly interacting with things and places that physically surround them. Microsoft reported that 53% of mobile searches on Bing have a local intent. The online world has become an essential place for businesses to connect with their local community. Make sure your business has a local listing on key search engines: Google Places, Bing maps, and Yahoo maps.
Make sure your Website content is the best it can be. Your company’s Website is your digital storefront, and you should treat it with as much care as you would a brick and mortar store location. You wouldn’t settle for errors in your store signage, so why tolerate them in your Web content writing? Take an objective look at your existing Website — are there calls to action included in the copy? Are relevant SEO keywords integrated when possible, so search engines can find you? Think of your Web content writing as your sales pitch to clients and customers…would you make a purchase from your Website?
Communicate more and in more ways. How many times have you thought to yourself, “I don’t understand, I sent them an email.” As a leader, you must communicate key messages frequently. Which means you must complete the communicate loop — you must ensure that the message sent is received. Doing so, especially as your team grows, requires communicating more frequently and in different modes, so your message is heard and drives action.
Do not lower prices to substitute a real marketing strategy. Have the confidence in what your company sells not to lower your price in an effort to win business. Focus on prospects that value the pain your company solves for them. Leave the price wars to your competitors.
Meet with customers and vendors face to face. Stop relying on email and the phone as an exclusive way to talk with customers. Even in a social media world, deep and long lasting business relationships are still built IRL (In Real Life).
Attend at least one major industry event. A big part of success in business is to never stop learning from others. Don’t cheat at this while actually attending the conference by spending the entire day working on issues that are happening back at the office.
Invest in yourself and learn at least one new skill. “Old dogs can learn new tricks.” We invest in training for many of our employees. This is the year to look at becoming proficient in an area where you are bad or very afraid.
Keep goals in front of yourself and everyone one else. Have you ever set a goal only to later not remember exactly what it was? This resolution will keep that from ever happening again! Once goals are created, everyone needs to be reminded of them regularly. This isn’t an exercise in micro-management or nagging. Rather, as a leader, you must help people keep their goal in mind and remind them of what success looks like — which means employee motivation is key. There are dozens of ways to do this — from using bulletin boards to regular conversations in team meetings. Find several that work for you and your team and implement them.