Being a small business is challenging. ?One of the biggest things that gets overlooked in almost every small business out there, is marketing. It always seems to be thing small businesses say they?ll ?get to? or ?could work harder? at. ?How can a business grow if it doesn?t market itself? ?Kick off 2013 right with these simple resolutions for a small business owner who needs to amp up your marketing strategy:
1. ?Make a marketing plan ? at this point you?ve all done your business plans right? ?You also need to have a marketing plan and stick to it. If you take the time to sit down and really think about what your goals are and come up with a plan to achieve them, it will inspire you to become a good marketer of your business. ?In it, you should have outlined marketing strategies for: ?marketing (direct and digital), social media, and public relations. ?There are plenty of good marketing plan templates out there that you can use, or if you?re not confident in yourself as a marketer, hire a consultant. ?Not all consultants are costly. Many are small business owners like yourself.
2. ?Become more organized financially ? maybe you have an accountant, maybe you don?t. ?A lot of small businesses do their own books and they do pretty well, many struggle. ?I, myself, was too busy to try and keep everything in order. ?Finally I realized I just wasn?t putting the time and attention into my own bookkeeping and it often made tax time a pain for myself and my tax accountant (who was also my friend?s dad). ?The best thing you can do for yourself is have an accountant come in and help you organize your books, check for overspending, and get you ready for filing. ?It?s a small investment that could produce big returns, literally.
3. ?Get on social media ? I know, you don?t have time to be ?playing on Facebook and Twitter and Tumblr (whatever the heck that is).? ?If you own a business, you need social media. ?I cannot stress this enough. ?It is of no cost other than time ? a free marketing channel for you. ?If you put one hour a day into building your social media presence, it will produce results. ?Social media is ?a slow and steady race, but it?s worth running. ?If you find you really can?t get the hang of social media, the next resolution is for you.
4. ?Get an intern ? cheap, smart, labor that is hungry for experience to help them get a job in a cut-throat economy. ?Some interns will work for free, but they shouldn?t. ?If you can?t find an intern who is receiving college credit, figure out how much you can budget for one. ?InPost on Craigslist, or on schools? job boards, that you?re looking for a ?marketing intern to assist with execution of our 2013 marketing plan?. ?Many of today?s marketing students have a good grasp of the principles of communications and should be able to lend something to the three strategies you?ve outlined in your marketing plan from resolution #1.
5. ?Be proud ? of yourself and those that helped you get there. ?We?ve all had small biz blues from time to time ? where you question if you?re doing a good enough job, if you?re ever going to make enough money to retire at 40, do my few employees look for better jobs behind my back, etc. ?Be confident in yourself. ?You?ve come this far. ?You?ve worked so hard. ?You should be proud of what you built and excited to take it even further.
Give 2013 everything you?ve got.
Source: http://www.bizengine.com/2013-small-biz-resolutions/
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