Answer these questions about your business: Have you updated your business plan? Are you using your business plan to run your small business? Do you have monthly/weekly sales goals? Do you know by the 15th of the month how well or poorly your business did last month? Are you doing 5 things before 11am each day to jump-start sales and revenue in your business? If your answer is no or not really try these:
Here are 5 things you could do today to generate a sale:
1) Send an email to a recent customer (within the last two weeks) and ask for a LinkedIn or Yelp recommendation. Be sure to send the link in the email to make it easy for them.
2) Call a contact that you met at a recent networking event to schedule coffee or a lunch appointment.
3) Send a personal note to an old customer to check in on them. Include an article of interest to them, too.
4) Write a 300-500 word blog post for your business blog.
5) Evaluate your accounts receivable to see if anyone is 30 days behind in paying you, and give them a call to find out payment status. While you’re on the phone with them, inquire about another order.
May is the busiest time of the year for me, and I have some great free resources for you from some of my corporate customers that will help you as you run your small business.
May 1: Take a business course for free: I’m the lead instructor for Black Enterprise’s Small Business University: Register for the Small Business University NOW and learn how to build and grow your business! Plus enter for a chance to win more than $50,000 in prizes. It’s not too late to sign up today http://www.blackenterprise.com/sbu/
May 2: 7th annual New York XPO for Business at The Javits Center in NYC. I will be delivering a keynote speech: “Using Social Media to Engage Customers & Drive B2B Success!” My speech is from 4:00 — 5:00 PM. I will teach small business owners how to create a winning online marketing strategy. Register today before it’s sold out. Here’s a BONUS! FREE 1-DAY XPO PASS REGISTER NOW = http://bit.ly/ubMH61 Promo Code = SPEAKER15
May 8: Live Tweetchat on Twitter Learn How to Build a Social Media Brand to Grow Your Small Business. Stay tuned for details.
May is going to be a great month for being in business. Check back at this blog daily for tools and resources to succeed as your own boss.