Yes, it’s a new year full of new possibilities – so let’s make things happen! Here are 10 things you should do for your business at the beginning of the year.
- Update your website. Your website is your best sales/conversion tool. If it’s not up-to-date you may miss out on a sales opportunity. Remember, just as you are looking at the new year and where you need to make changes, so are your clients – what can you offer them to get them going in the right direction?
- Make sure your website is responsive. You will miss out on potential clients if you don’t.
- Make a Marketing Calendar …and this time get serious about it! What holidays are coming up. When would be the best time to launch new products and how? Could you make sales in “Back to School” products or is your service something that would better suit Valentine’s day. Prepare now for what is coming up ahead and you will feel less rushed and more inspired!
- Evaluate your Social Media Strategy. What worked last year and what could you add this year. Instagram has started to really take off in South Africa. Could your business benefit from this platform?
- Master the art of Video. Most Social Media platforms have placed more focus on video, including live video streaming. Could you create more buzz around your business this year by making use of this tool?
- Get Blogging. Here she goes again, right!? Blogging on your business website IS a great way to get people to your website, especially those who may have never heard of you/your business before. Deliver quality content, share it on social media and traffic to your website will increase.
- Reach out to customers you lost. This may feel difficult, I know. We gain customers and lose customers. That is just how business works. Some customers value our service and would pay top dollar because they appreciate what we do and others are just looking for a cheap deal – and that’s okay. We have been on both sides ourselves, I am sure. Things may have changed for them and for you, reaching out means you may get some customers back. If you don’t, that’s okay too. You can use it as a learning experience and find out why they left and use it to improve your current business.
- Evaluate your systems. Throw out or rework what is not working and bring in what will. See where you can save time and money.
- Create financial goals. How did you do in 2015? What can you do better? Are there places where you spent too much? What do you want to do differently in 2016? How were your sales? Make some sales goals for 2016.
- Look for new ways to get customers excited about your product/service/business. Think about what you could do to surprise and delight your customers! As the year progresses we often get so bogged down in the day-to-day running of the business that we don’t have time to get creative in this area. Start planning now!
