It’s National Small Business Month and here are some quick ideas to jumpstart your small business for the second half of this year.
Have you updated your elevator pitch? When is the last time you sharpened your marketing plan? Do you have monthly sales goals? Are your business finances updated by the 15th of the month? Do you do at least one thing a day to generate sales? If you answered “no” to any of these questions, it’s not too late to start moving in the right direction.
Here are 6 things you could do today to generate a sale in your small business:
1) Send a thank you note. Personal hand-written notes are so powerful. Send one to a friend, customer or a prospect just to check in and let them know they crossed your mind. If you can, include an article of interest to them, too.
2) Ask for a LinkedIn or Yelp recommendation. You need to ask for recommendations religiously. Turn your happy customers into an unpaid sales force for your small business. Be sure to send the link to make it easy for them. The easiest way to get a recommendation is to give one.
3) Follow-up with a recent contact. I meet people everywhere and I’m sure you do, too. Reach out to a contact that you met at a recent networking event to schedule a face-to-face meeting or appointment. Pick out a place that is mutually convenient and have a quick coffee or lunch meeting.
4) Change your timeline graphic on your Facebook fan page. People respond to visuals. Make sure to update people on what’s new with your small business.
5) Write a new blog post for your business blog. Make sure that your article is helpful to your target audience and is at least 500 words.
6) Track down your outstanding receivables. On a weekly basis, evaluate your accounts receivable. If any client is behind 30 days in issuing payment, give them a call to find out payment status. While you’re on the phone, inquire about any additional opportunities to do more business.
Let me know how these marketing tactics are working for you in your business.
“Standing Business Partners” courtesy of imagerymajestic / www.freedigitalphotos.net
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May is the busiest time of the year for me, and here’s where you can catch me live this week.
Monday May 13th: I’m headed to Austin, TX for the RISE Conference Austin sponsored by Dell. I’m be speaking at the Opening Keynote session Monday evening at 6pm https://www.riseglobal.org/about
Tuesday May 14th: Don’t miss my brand new TV Show, Crowd Rules on CNBC 9pm ET Do you have what it takes to win $50,000? In the all new competition series, Crowd Rules, three small businesses compete for the grand prize each week. To win–they must convince the crowd! Check out an exclusive sneak peek. You can see my episode June 18th.
Wednesday May 15th: Come celebrate #SmallBizChat’s 200th episode! Join me on Twitter Wed 8-9pm ET where we’ll have some surprises and giveaways — so do not miss this. We’ll be talking about how to build a powerful social media brand. Here’s how to participate in #Smallbizchat http://bit.ly/S797e
Thursday May 16th: Join me in Columbus, OH for the Black Enterprise Entrepreneurs Conference #BEEC. I’ll be leading a boot camp on how to develop and launch a brand for a new small business. It’s not too late to join me, register today.
Friday May 17th: Don’t miss Part II of my three part series in the New York Times You’re the Boss Blog on how to have a great website. Here’s part one: The Problem Social Media Cannot Solve
I feel so grateful to be your SmallBizLady; it’s my mission to end small business failure – and I work hard at it. I love to meet my fans in person, so if you’re attending any of the conferences where I’m speaking this week, please stop and say, “Hi!”
Melinda, love your piece with Jill Konrath. Great interview.
I own and operate a barber and beauty salon, and I always follow-up with my clients. They really appreciate the honest and pure concerns of the call and it makes them feel like their more than just a client…kinda like FAMILY!