The SmallBizLady Buzz - Issue 69
Melinda Emerson, MBA
America's #1 Small Business Expert | Speaker for the US State Dept. | Business Coach | LinkedIn Top Voice | Author
Many times, when things start slowing down in a business, we are not clear on what to do. Have you ever wondered what are the areas of a business that typically need a tune-up? Here are a few common areas that can trip up any small business owner. If things are not humming along like a well-oiled cash machine, chances are you need to look at one of these three areas so that you can build better systems in your business. Here are three big things you might need to fix in your business.
People—Who is on your team? When you don't have enough money to hire people, often you end up with the B team working for you. Do you have a system to hire more core employees in your organization? A core employee is defined as employee who will be with you two or more years. Once someone has been with you two years, their productivity skyrockets, which will help your business long-term. This will allow you to stop being stressed out by your business because you will have employees who know and do their job.
Prospects—Do you generate consistent leads and sales? You must create an organized sales process that will keep you from having a rollercoaster with your revenue. Some months you are up and some months you are down. Wouldn’t it be great to have consistent leads and high dollar sales coming in? You need a sales system to drive consistent sales. When you have an organized sales process, lead generation is automated, and you’ll stop the leaks in your sales pipeline.
Profits—How profitable is your business? Profit is how we keep score in business. It’s not about what you make, it’s about what you keep. Do you track the profits in your business? If you did, you might see the things that erode profit. Things such as rework, shipping charges, and how long it takes to get paid. Are there areas of your business where you are hemorrhaging cash? Create a system to better manage your cash and set aside more profit for yourself.
Take a hard look at these three areas of your business, and make a to do list so that you don’t get overwhelmed making too many changes at once.
One way to increase your profits is to do a good job of capturing leads from your web traffic. This week’s featured article is 9 Ways to Increase the Traffic to Your Small Business’s Website
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9 Ways to Increase the Traffic to Your Small Business’s Website
The website for your small business is an important element when planning out your marketing campaigns. Long gone are the days where a business card or brochure was the only way to increase your company’s business and client base. With many customers starting their purchasing journey online, it’s vital they can find you on the internet among your competition.
Whether you run a brick-and-mortar shop, an e-commerce store, or some other type of business, increasing the traffic to your small business’s website is important. Your online presence is where potential customers can learn more about the products and services you offer. You want to build up trust in your brand with them, resulting in lifelong customers and sales. Continue reading....
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Supercharge your Instagram and Youtube
Shorby allows you to create a smart page or micro-landing page that you can use as your Instagram bio link. Instead of just linking to your homepage or landing, you can create a page with all the links to pages you want to drive traffic and awareness to. While it’s widely considered as an Instagram bio link app, you can also use Shorby to create smart pages on other social media platforms as well. It’s one the most comprehensive Instagram bio link tool around.
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Recommended by LinkedIn
Podcast: Growing Your Business Through Supplier Diversity with Kathey Porter
Check out this week’s Podcast: Growing Your Business Through Supplier Diversity with Kathey Porter
Kathey Porter is a Speaker, Author, Small Business Strategist, and CEO of Porter Brown Associates. She is a supplier diversity expert with over two decades of experience in small business development and entrepreneurship. Kathey has written multiple business books and hosts a podcast that shares advice and tips on scaling and growing a business. Kathey shares some insights on business certification, getting corporate contracts and why you need an institutional acquisition strategy. For more information: www.porterbrownassociates.com
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Want a free copy of my new book?
My new book, Become Your Own Boss in 12 Months, Revised and Expanded, in coming out this Fall.
Sign up today to be a Beta Reader on my launch team. There are lots of great perks, including a special advanced copy of the book and a special LIVE Q&A session with me to answer questions about the book. Don’t miss this chance. Space is limited.
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Do you have valuable information to share? If it’s original content article or an infographic that hasn’t been posted, we would love to have it. Write a guest blog post for SmallBizLady’s blog, and grow your brand online. Submit your ideas today here.
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Melinda F. Emerson, “SmallBizLady” is America’s #1 Small Business Expert. She is an internationally renowned keynote speaker on small business development, marketing and social selling. Melinda is also the president of the Quintessence Group, an award-winning marketing consulting firm based in Philadelphia, PA, serving Fortune 500 brands who target small business market. LinkedIn named her a Top Voice for 2019 in Small Business and Entrepreneurship. In addition to being a former NY Times columnist, she is frequently quoted by media organizations including The Wall Street Journal, Fortune, MSNBC, CNBC and Fox News. She is the host of #Smallbizchat LIVE and The SmallBizChat Podcast. A prolific writer, Melinda has published more than 5000 articles on her blog www.succeedasyourownboss.com. Her small business advice is widely read reaching more than 3 million entrepreneurs each week online. She is the bestselling author of Become Your Own Boss in 12 Months, 2nd Edition. Her latest book is Fix Your Business, a 90 Day Plan to Get Back Your Life and Reduce Chaos in Your Business.