Growing a business isn’t for the faint of heart. It comes with a lot of challenges, dedication and pain. Having a stellar product or service alone isn’t enough to turn your idea into a successful, profitable business. From marketing and branding to considering your customer experience, the life of a business owner can be hectic and stressful. Following these six baby steps can take the guesswork out of growing your business and set you off in the right direction.
Develop a Referral Strategy
What’s better than landing new customers or clients that you didn’t have to actively seek out? Implementing a referral strategy from day one can save you massive dollars on outbound marketing. This way you can help expand your business through word of mouth. That is definitely one of the most effective ways to spread the word about your business to a new crowd.
Find a Mentor
Although it may be difficult to find time for mentoring, it’s one of the most important things you can do as a business owner. Surrounding yourself with other people who have been successful in your industry can save you time on making common mistakes. Better yet, if you don’t have the money to hire a mentor and you don’t know one personally, free resources like SCORE can put you in touch with expert mentors who will hold your hand through the process. This can really help teach you a lot of essential skills to build your business and find success fast.
Create Valuable Content
Content marketing is valuable. Not only can it help you attract new visitors to your website and social media pages, but more importantly, it also helps you build rapport with your potential clients and customers. The important thing to remember when it comes to content is leading with quality, rather than quantity. The keyword on content is value.
Focus On the Customer Experience
Have you heard that it’s more expensive to attract a new customer than it is to keep an existing customer? Keeping your existing customers and clients happy is the key to growth and longevity. What can you do to create a unique customer experience and instill a sense of loyalty? It is so essential that you build a relationship with your customers and leave them wanting to come back.
Hire Professionals
Don’t get caught up doing your own accounting or legal, unless that’s what your expertise is. When it comes to legal matters you want to make sure that you hire a professional. Different corporations can help you find the best legal help for you. They also will know what they are doing and can be a great resource to help you answer any questions that you may have.
Make Friends With the Media
Regardless of your marketing budget, you should take advantage of free publicity every chance you get. Learning the art of pitching the media and getting media mentions is something every business owner should learn in order to grow their business. As Richard Branson would say, “a front page news story is infinitely more effective than a front page ad.”
Expanding your business doesn’t have to be rocket science. An internet full of free marketing resources, a little bit of strategic planning, and working smarter, not harder, can catapult your business to the next level.
Author: Kara Masterson is a freelance writer from Utah. She graduated from the University of Utah and enjoys writing and spending time with her dog, Max. Kara recommends looking into Fisher & Talwar – Professional Law Corporation for more information on building your business with legal help.
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