8 New Year Resolutions That Will Take Your Business To New Levels

The end of the year is here and with that many people make resolutions for the New Year.

Unfortunately, most small to medium-sized businesses do not make any resolutions about growing and marketing their business. The definition of resolution is “a firm decision to do or not to do something”. The keywords here are the decision to do, it does not say to wish or pray for something to happen.

Today, we are faced with the strongest economy in the last 50 years. All indications are that it is going to get even better. There are going to be more multi-millionaires made in the next few years than ever before in our country’s history. What you decide to do or decide not to do will have an economic impact not only for you but for your family for generations.

The following is a list of resolutions because at the base of your company’s growth and the extent of the height of that growth will be determined by the decisions you make about marketing and promotion today.

1. Decide that no matter what you are going to be consistent with your advertising and marketing. Your marketing budget should be treated like your payroll. It is one of the first things you fund and pay. Lack of consistency in advertising is one of the primary reasons for the huge ups and downs in your company’s income. If you want to get off the cash-flow roller coaster, be consistent with your advertising is the way to go.

2. Decide that every piece of advertising you send out has a buy now with an offer to buy now. People naturally procrastinate. You want them to buy or call right now and not six months from now. Often a strong special price will get them to take action sooner rather than later. Every customer, client or prospect you will get is a customer of one of your competitors and you are buying customers with your special offer.

3. Decide to include targeted direct mail in your advertising. Why? Because direct mail is the only form of advertising that reaches 99.99% of your potential and existing customers. Think about this…do you know anyone who does not have a mailbox? The answer is no. Everyone in the United States has a mailbox and the USPS delivers the mail every day. Direct Mail is the only way you can put a message directly in the hands of your best prospect. There are 3 things that can cause a mailer to fail.

4. Include social media in your advertising. There is an easy, inexpensive, and effective way to use Facebook that will only target people on your mailing list that you are mailing to. The problem most people have is that the advertising they do is so broad that there are no multiple contacts with the prospects.

5. It is possible today to use Google the same way, reaching only people who are interested in your service.

6. Decide you are going to implement a follow-up program. 80% of all sales occur after the 5^th to 12^th contact with the prospect. The bigger the ticket item, the more follow-up is required to close the sale. Incorporate professionally created brochures, flyers, and booklets. The more things that are real and tangible that you can put in a prospect’s hands, the better.

7. Harden yourself to stay with your plan even through the ups and downs. This is the hardest one because there will be ups and downs. It takes time for an advertising program to take hold. The natural inclination is to abandon a program when a slow period happens.

8. Make an investment in your website. Today 96% of buyers will research and shop online before making a purchase. The weak link for most small businesses is their website. They are losing prospects when they go to their website. The navigation is too confusing, the type fonts and layouts are hard to read and there is no call to action and no special offers. When people go to your website they are looking for answers to questions and solutions to problems, and if they do not see it or cannot find it then they are out of there in one to two clicks. You lost a potential new customer because your website did not perform.

If you have questions or need help with a targeted mailer, Google, Facebook, or a new website we have a program that actually ties everything together and gets your advertising working for you.

For more information call 727-536-4173 or fill out the form below and one of our Marketing Consultants will love to help you!