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10 Tips to Growing Your Business in 2017

by Victor Muchemwa on
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No matter where your business stands, you likely welcome the opportunity to make more money and land new clients in the coming year

By Drew Hendricks

What can you do to take your business to the next phase? These ten tips can help you expand in 2016.

Fire Your Worst Client

You may feel that you can’t afford to lose even one client but chances are, there’s one person who demands more time than the others. Unless that client is paying for that extra time, this is the year to cut ties. Even if the client pays the same as the rest, the daily stress that comes with dealing with demanding, finicky clients isn’t worth it.

Reach Out to New Prospects

If you focus solely on existing customers, you’ll stagnate. To truly grow, you need to add new clients, which will in turn require bringing on additional staff. Set a goal this year to reach out to at least one new prospect a month to increase your chances of adding a few new clients.

Expand into a New Market

If you’ve limited yourself to a particular regional area or industry, consider going beyond those boundaries this year. One new client in previously-unexplored territory could lead to referrals to others in that area, growing your business exponentially faster than staying within your comfort zone.

Travel to Meet a Client

So much of business today is handled remotely, entrepreneurs can go months without seeing clients face to face. In some cases, they have clients they’ve never even met. This year make an effort to meet at least one client in person. You’ll find the face-to-face experience helps form a bond you wouldn’t have otherwise.

Outsource the Small Things

In the early days, business owners often take responsibility for everything, since they can’t afford to hire employees. But today’s business owners can outsource duties online through services like Upwork and FlexJobs. By outsourcing small things, you can focus on attracting new clients and growing your business.

Change Your Hiring Practices

If you’ve already grown to the point that you have a team of employees, consider shaking up your recruiting practices in 2016. Hire someone who brings a unique skillset to your team, even if it means contracting with a recruiter to find the perfect person. By diversifying your talent pool, you’ll bring a new perspective to your daily work environment, brainstorming sessions, and client meetings and possibly open doors for your business to pursue new projects.

Attend a New Conference

When you started your business, you may have skipped conferences due to a lack of funds. If you did attend them, you probably focused on a few events within your own industry or region. This year, consider attending a conference outside your industry or in a new area of the country. You’ll make new connections and get perspectives you wouldn’t have otherwise heard.

Pursue Your Passion

Spend some time thinking about what makes you happy, whether it’s through your business or in your free time. Then set time aside each week for that activity. Studies show pursuing a passion can add an extra eight hours of happiness to your week. Most importantly, it will prevent burnout and remind you why you work so hard each day.

Participate Online

If you own a business, chances are you have a website and several social media accounts, but are they active? If you aren’t participating in your online presence, you may lose followers who see your sites as outdated. Use a dashboard service like Hootsuite to keep up with all of your social media accounts in one place.

Take a Course

Truly successful people never stop trying to learn and better themselves. Find a way to take a course related to your business, whether it’s a webinar, local networking workshop, or through an online education site. Even if the course is on a subject you’ve already mastered, you may feel inspired by a refresher on the basic principles of that subject.

Each new year provides new opportunities to take your business to the next level. Make sure you know what your goals are and work each day to eventually reach those goals. You’ll not only be maintaining your business’s current success, but you’ll be ensuring your success for many years.

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Diaspora Matters

Top 10 Small Business Marketing Tips

by Victor Muchemwa on
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marketing

By definition, marketing is used to educate, inform, and promote the products and services of a company. Marketing is a critical piece of any company’s business plan, as it helps to connect current clients and prospective customers with your company and increase the likelihood that they will make a purchase. Here are some tips you can use to improve your own small business’ marketing plan:

  1. Promote your business with buddy marketingIn buddy marketing, you will have to team up with another small business. It can help you reach many more customers than you would be able to without it. There are many buddy marketing strategies you can use. For instance, in case you send out company brochures, add another company’s business card and get it to do the same for you. This will let both companies get in touch with a new pool of potential customers.
  2. Include stickers on direct mailsWhen you send business mail, you should add stickers, handwritten notes and stamps. Ensure that you place them outside the envelope so it catches the eye. Stickers and notes will be read first, before the mail is opened. The message on the sticker or note should be brief so it can be read in less than ten seconds.
  3. Print a small version of your best ad and mail it

    Find the best ad your company has and print it on a postcard. One of the key factors to consider when you select the ad is the length of its message – it should ideally be brief. People are more likely to read a postcard that has a short message, than a long one. A small postcard ad can help drive a big volume of traffic to your company’s website. It can generate several sales leads.

  4. Add a message when you answer callsWhen you answer calls, include a message that is likely to interest the caller. It can be about a new service or product your company has launched. It is possible that the caller will ask about the new offering. The message about the offer should be short, just enough to get his attention. If you are making an offer, it should be aggressive. You can also include a date of expiry for the offer so that caller knows he should find out about it soon if he wants it. This can push the caller to inquire about it immediately.
  5. Make another offer immediately after a customer makes a purchase Once a customer makes a purchase, offer a new product or service immediately. A good way to do this is to send a note to the customer. You can thank him for doing business with your company. Also mention that on returning with the note, you will make him a special offer. For instance, you can offer a discount on a new product or service. You can create urgency by adding a date of expiry.
  6. Host seminars Get face time with prospects and important customers by hosting an event like a seminar. It will give get people to know about your company. Such events can get good media coverage and turnout. If you are conducting a seminar, limit the number of people attending it by charging a fee. The value of the seminar can increase when you charge a fee.
  7. Mail outsIn all the mails you send out, include your ad, brochure or flyer. This way, you will not have to pay the additional postage you would otherwise have to if you were to send the brochures or ads separately.
  8. NewsletterThe cost of making a sale to an existing customer is six times lesser than that to a new one. To market your products and services to an existing customer, you can send newsletters. A good cost saving tactic is to send a newsletter via email to those who subscribe to your company.
  9. Exchanging products and services You can use this tool to promote your company’s offerings and get them to use it. If you know of a business whose products or services are used by the same target customers as yours, you can trade the your offerings for the company’s products or services or for its advertising space.
  10. Keep your marketing approach freshOne marketing approach will not always work for a business. Customers may stop paying attention to what you are doing if you use the same approach. So, it is important to change the marketing tactics of your business. Marketing can be interesting if you make the most of the different opportunities for getting across your value proposition to customers. An important thing to remember is that the marketing tactics you select should be those that offer a good ROI to you. To find out whether an effort has been effective, you should seek feedback from customers. Change the efforts if you have to, on the basis of what the customers have to say.

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