5 proven ways to grow your small business

By Alex Williams

Although starting a business from scratch is by no means an easy task, some people make it more difficult than it needs to be. Whether it’s over-thinking the strategy, over-complicating the production line or simply worrying too much about the staff, it’s possible to play out one too many scenarios in your head without actually accomplishing anything. That being said, let’s go over some of the most efficient ways you can use to successfully grow and maintain your very own business.

Find a profitable niche

Launching a business in a niche you’re passionate about is simply not enough. What’s important is that the niche in question is not only profitable but void of any significant competitors like large businesses and corporations. No matter how good your products or services are, you can hardly grow a business when you have to compete with multi-million-dollar advertising campaigns from bigger players.

Instead, focus on markets that play to your specific strengths and create your products and services, as well as reputation, around the fact that you’re the leader in that particular market. This is relevant both for first-time businesses and for those looking to expand their operations and step into a completely new market.

Diligently advertise your business

Proactively marketing products and services is one of the quickest ways to grow a business. Today’s technological advancements allow for hyper-targeted advertising, so make sure to use them in your marketing campaign. Whether it’s direct mail, email marketing, pay-per-click advertising or social media engagement, make sure you use every tool you have at your disposal. Have in mind that closing a sale after contacting a prospective customer for the first time is not likely to happen. You might have to contact them at least five or six times before they feel ready to purchase what you’re offering. This is why it’s important to not only be very specific with your targeting but also maintain your advertising campaign over extended periods of time.

Build a good reputation

Public relations and the overall reputation may not result in instant leads, but they are fairly important when it comes to building a long-term goodwill and value regarding your brand. Not to mention that an excellent reputation is quintessential for an effective lead generation and overall growth of your business.

There are numerous ways you can build up a reputation, but some of the easiest include publishing articles regarding your business in respected news sources, headlining and hosting speaking engagements, and asking your customers to leave a review or a testimonial about the products and services you offer.

Do not make the mistake of removing or ignoring bad reviews, as this will only bring on a slew of negative publicity and needlessly hurt your brand. Instead, try to find out what made the customer leave a bad review in the first place and use that information to respond effectively and further improve your business.

Engage your customers

These days, trying to grow a business without a proper customer engagement tactic is next to impossible. Apart from asking for reviews and testimonials, you need to address all the issues and answer any questions your customers might have. This means using all the social media platforms your customers are using. Gone are the days when people used to search for company information in order to contact their customer support. Today, people simply use companies’ social media profiles to voice their concerns and have their questions answered. Helping your customers can only result in good publicity, more referrals and, in turn, larger revenues.

Reward loyalty

There’s no better way of expressing your gratitude towards loyal customers than by rewarding them with various coupons, discounts and special offers. Have in mind that all of your rewards need to be relevant to the target page and article subject you’ll be using on your website. You can use dollar value or percentage based discounts, or simply offer free gifts in a form of merchandise or products. Weekly and monthly offers have proven to be the most effective when it comes to driving sales, but so are holiday specials and seasonal offers. For optimal effect, make sure you couple your rewards with new product or service launches.

As you can see, growing and maintaining a business is easy once you know what you need to be doing. Sales are important, and no one is claiming otherwise. However, what sets apart the most successful businesses from the surrounding competition is the way they make those sales. The most important question you need to ask yourself is not “How can I sell something to a customer?” but rather “What can I do to provide my customers with real value?”. Once you have the answer to that question figured out, developing a business becomes a piece of cake.

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My name is Alex Williams. I am a journalism graduate, and a rookie blogger trying to find my luck. Blogs are the perfect opportunity for presenting yourself to wider audience, getting the chance to showcase my expertise and receiving recognition. I am a regular contributor at BizzmarkBlog. Connect with me on Facebook or   Twitter.

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