The Creative's Struggle & Hustle: 5 Simple Tips to Growing Your Small Business
Hey Bosses,
With time flying as fast as it is and task lists getting longer and longer, it is getting harder to keep up with running that side hustle or full fledge business. But, no matter what, your business needs your attention and you have to carve out the time for it.
I usually start my week refining my to do list. Monday's are my days to refine my to - do list and prioritize my week. Things change over the weekends and I have to adjust to the change - and sometimes shift what I thought was going to be my focus - for the week to whatever is now more urgent or time sensitive. Although most things can be moved around and penciled in for a later time, there are some things that I will do every single week no matter what the situation is. Even if I am traveling, I still make sure to get these (five) things done.
Post on Social Media
No matter what, I have some type of interaction with my audience every single week. Your followers are following you for a reason and if you are a business, they want to hear from you or they will forget you. It is out of sight, out of mind and social media moves fast so you have to keep up. I usually post on my stories at least 5 times a week, even if it is as simple as a quote or inspirational message. I have a schedule for my post on Instagram and don't plan more than 2 - 3 posts a week. For Facebook I plan all posts for the week on Sunday or Monday and they are usually scheduled to post during the times my audience is most active, throughout the week. Posting keeps you connected to your audience and creates top-of-mind awareness (TOMA) for your brand.
Respond to Your Audience
When your business is new and you start getting emails, most of the time you are on top of things. As you continue to increase awareness and more emails, comments, DM's, and possibly phone calls start rolling in, it gets harder and harder to manage. My rule of thumb is, all emails and other ways people comment or connect need to be responded to within 24 business hours. Facebook even rates your response rate on your business page, so you get the idea of how important this is to your business.
Here are some ways to stay responsive:
Create an auto reply on all platforms and email accounts so customers are notified immediately of when to expect a response from you
Check your emails and any other forms of conversation at least once a day
Schedule in time at the beginning or end of you day to do your replies
Always like or reply to comments on your social media posts (especially while you are growing your business, if you have hundreds of comments that you can't reply to, then maybe it is time to hire a social media manager)
Create a Blog Post
This one is new to me. I have been in business 6.5 years and for the bulk of that time I did not find the time to blog. I recently made it a part of my content marketing campaign and every week, unless it is a holiday, I create a blog post on both of my websites. It doesn't have to be long, it can be short and sweet - directly to the point. The goal is to create some content and make it a part of your weekly routine.
Check Your Website
Every week you should be checking your website both on your desktop and your mobile device. You want to make sure everything is showing up correctly, the site is mobile friendly and there have been no updates made that change how your site functions. Check for broken links, information you have linked to may have change and cause your site to have broken links. You can run a test here. Update any outdated information such as events that have passed, links that have changed or any other outdated information.
Review Your Metrics
It does not matter what type of business you own, if you have a social media account and/or website, you need to review your metrics at least once a week. The only way to grow is to know.
Here are some things to look for (depending on your type of business):
What page or item is most popular on your site
Are your views going up or down
When are people visiting your site or page the most
What are the demographics of those visiting
Do you have a high bounce rate
How does your conversion rate look from week to week
Are your sales increasing, decreasing or staying the same WoW
Compare your metrics to this same time last year YoY
There will always be a variety of things you can do to grow your business, you just have to start somewhere. These tips will help you start to monitor your business so that you can make decisions that will allow it to grow.
Until next time,
Blessings, Peace and Love,
SaRatta
Follow @sarattaspeaks