Rosalind Henshell5 Ways To Kickstart Your Year
We’re halfway through 2015, so now’s as good a time as any to take a moment to reflect whether or not you are on track to meet your annual goals. No matter where you stand against the numbers it’s time to re-evaluate what you want to achieve in the second half of the year. Those of you who are doing better than you’d hoped may need to set a higher target in order to not fall into complacency. For anyone who has found 2015 a struggle are there any changes you can make to what you are doing in order to make the next six months more lucrative? Or do you need to set more realistic expectations as well as work a little smarter?
Lets take a look at some of the areas that you may be able to make changes in order to make 2015 your best year yet, no matter what the first six months have brought!
Set the right goals
One obvious reason that you are not on target is that you have miscalculated what you are capable of and set unrealistic goals. This is true whether you are way over, or way under what you have set. Take a step back and look at the numbers you have achieved, by being more objective you should be able to see where you can make improvements. For example, if you have set a target to increase customer numbers, then perhaps you need to ensure that the value of each customer is earning you enough to grow your revenue too. If your revenue is good but you’re not doing much new business then how can you entice in new customers and turn them into long term clients?
Optimize your Website
It’s been said many times that your website is a 24 hour, 7 day a week sales person for you business – or at least it should be. If your website hasn’t been updated since it was first built then it might be time to check that it is correctly optimised to attract the most traffic for your business.
There are many tools available, such as Google Analytics, that can help you identify the terms that most people are using to find your website. These keywords should be used strategically across your site in order for the search engines to pick your business up in relevant search terms. Even if you think your site is correctly optimised beware, SEO is not a “set and forget” strategy.
You need to constantly tweak your settings in order for your site to remain relevant to the search engines. Plus, over time you may have slightly different products, services and goals that mean you need your site to appeal to a different audience. If it’s not obvious to the search engines what you do, then you will struggle to be found by new customers.
Be more Social!
Almost everyone has some sort of social media presence, but a shocking number of businesses are ignoring this. It might seem like Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest have nothing to do with your business, and you’d be right if your business has no customers! Social media is on the whole, free, and more people spend their time on social media than on any other part of the internet. If you want to be found by more customers, then I can guarantee they are on social media! The trick is finding the right platform and voice for your business to appeal to people who are not necessarily looking for your business at that time.
If you’ve dipped your toes into social media for your business but not had any success don’t be disheartened. You can’t expect instant results, but a good social media strategy is great for building up long term relationships and loyal customers. There are countless free resources online to help you find your feet, and it’s definitely worth your time to put together a social media strategy.
Update your Blog
Blogging is one of the best ways to keep your website updated regularly. IT also provides you with the means to talk directly to your customers, let them know about what you’re working on, talk about new products and projects and gives readers a reason to come back to your website again and again. It might seem like a lot of work for little reward, but as with social media, blogging is a valuable tool and the more you write, the more you have to offer to anyone who comes to your site.
As I touched on above, search engines like to have fresh, relevant information about your website in order to continue to bring new readers to the site. The more new content you put out on your blog, the more keywords it contains, and the more people who will find you as a result.
It also gives you a chance to answer your customers’ questions before they arise. People who are searching for general information about what you do rather than those searching directly for your business will be more likely to find your business and remember the information you provide.
If you’re new to blogging try posting one update per week and then build up to more frequent articles as you grow in confidence.
Don’t forget Offline Marketing
There is of course, a big wide world that isn’t online and offline marketing will still help to grab people’s attention for your business. If you are launching a new product or have a special campaign to promote then consider investing in some posters for your office or waiting area if customers come to your site, or other forms of marketing such as the newspaper, direct mail, or flyers.
Make sure that your image and message are clear to anyone who might see your advert; it’s a good idea to make sure your branding is congruent across all the media forms you use. As with anything, try and track the response – adding a special tracking phone number to any adverts you use will help to see what is effective.
If you’re planning on revamping your website to meet your new goals, don’t do anything before you’ve read our FREE guide to Building Websites That Sell.
What will you do with the next six months? Is it time to update your own goals, or has the first half of the year served you well? Let us know in the comments below!
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