New Year, New You, right?
It’s tempting to take everything remaining of 2020 and throw it in the trash. Then burn sage, ring a feng-shui bell, literally anything to reset the energy. You want a new haircut, new look, shake off the year. What about your business? It needs a quick trip to the barber, too.
MAKE A PLAN:
Make a weekly plan! Weekly, not quarterly-that leaves too much room for mistakes. If you were trying to lose weight and only weighed yourself every quarter…well, you already know where that’s going. Sit down once a week and give yourself some realistic goals.
Don’t forget to delegate! We know you’ve got a million plates spinning at a time when running your business. Do you have time to remember to water the plants, or can you maybe give that task to an employee?
Promote yourself! Set a schedule of what you’re promoting and when. By planning this weekly, you’re ensuring a much more consistent feel to your marketing.
Don’t forget to practice the “pause”. If you’ve ever played an instrument or learned how to read music, you’ll know this is an important lesson. If you don’t learn to stop, breathe, rest when it’s needed, the music just won’t sound right. Schedule yourself time to rest.
GIVE BACK.
If you want your community’s support you need to offer it in return. See a need, fill a need! Don’t you love it when you have an employee that has the intuition to see a gap in service and they take it on without asking? You know that sense of gratefulness that you feel? That’s how your community feels when you do good work. It engenders that sense of community that can bring a town together.
Attend networking events! Don’t just show up for the free coffee and donuts.
Add value to the conversation, share what you know has worked for you. Actively help other businesses experience success. They will remember.
INVEST IN YOUR BUSINESS:
Not just new business cards (although that’s a good start). Take a good look at each aspect of your business. Invest in a second opinion! Have a fresh set of eyes take a look at your marketing. Could you use a new logo? How long has it been since you’ve had it created and does it still match your mission? Try to look at your website through the eyes of a customer. Do all the pages work? Does it match your brand? Don’t settle!
Don’t just “make do”. This is your business. If you’ve been making do with a faulty piece of equipment or a non-functional website, it’s time for an update.
LEARN TO LET GO:
Not all products are going to sell. Even if YOU know the item has value and will benefit the customer, if it doesn’t sell it’s taking up room. Shed the dead weight.
If there’s a business relationship that you’ve been forcing, let it go. It might be painful but it also might be what’s been holding you back. Make room for relationships that can help you move forward.
We know that your niece’s best friend’s fiance did a great job on your website 4 years ago, but he took up website building as a hobby and now he’s REALLY into remote control planes. It doesn’t mean you can’t fly RC planes with him, but maybe it’s time to have a professional look at your website. (cough cough, Metro Nova, cough.)
Let’s shake off 2020 like a bad dream and make great stuff in 2021. We’ll walk you through how we create a campaign just for you and you’re going to like the way it looks.
