Are you Regular?

I mean, are you regular on your Social Media of course. Why is it so important to be regular? Mostly because it shows you have a continued presence online. Facebook is rapidly becoming less friendly for organic reach and will soon become just another method for people to find me/you in a search. Thus most businesses are now taking their business to Twitter and Google+. These are currently mostly free and relatively easy to use though Google+ is a virtual mystery to most people I know. (I provide training in this When using social media make sure you always reference your website. You don't own social media platforms but do own your website. You can get great analytics from where your customer comes from also. NB: If you don't spend the time in updating your website or posting regularly online your business WILL disappear into obscurity.

‍Do you get regular customer feedback? Getting customer feedback is important also, get your clients to tell you areas for improvement and what they would like to see in your service or product. It's extremely difficult to look outside of your situation especially as a Sole Trader. Your friends and family can make some suggestions but what you really need is some true objective advice.

‍Do you regularly up-sell? This is just mentioning what other services and products you. I think we can all be a little fearful of this at times and it is mostly down to how you do it, so it doesn't seem too pushy. I am normally approached about one or two areas of training at a time but I mention after I have started training other areas I specialise in. So far this has brought in two large promotional and organisational, one off events for me. So do try to upsell when you can, you would be surprised how effective it can be.

‍Do you regularly network? This is important for product and service based businesses also. You don't need to go to every network but it is important to go to at least one or two local ones. You get to learn about small to medium businesses locally also which in itself could generate good leads.

Simply put, no matter how much your business is based online, people sell better to people. I have worked in the past with online businesses and they have had a fantastic website and greatly populated Facebook page but have never gone out to meet their clients/suppliers or gone to any events they have had. This means they have no personal relationship with them. People tend to remember others when they have met them and built a rapport, so make a point of developing a relationship and maybe better offers or more distribution of better products will come your way.

‍Do you regularly look at your Marketing Plan? Most businesses are great at setting up a business plan and the Marketing Plan gets left to last minute or not done at all. Once you have a plan it's not meant to be set in stone, you can change it and develop it as you go as well. Maybe you have added a new product line or removed a supplier or perhaps added or removed a service. These all impact your business and your Marketing plan but it gives you a purpose for your promotion, a direction when you are really busy and can't think what to write about or share online.

I hope these help and please let me know your feedback!