5 ideas to freshen up your business
Whether we’re more busy than ever during this time or our clients coming in seem to be at a stand still, one thing is true- at some point we’’ll have to refresh parts our business.. it’s a great thing when we feel like the growth is happening with minimal work, but don’t wait until your sales are stalled out before refreshing and updating your business. That’s a sure way to feel like you’re starting over, so start doing some of the refreshing before it’s truly slowed down.
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no matter how driven and hard working we are, we all hit some road blocks and to know the next step to continual growth can be frustrating, you thought you were doing all the things, so now time to go back through and freshen up the hard work foundation you’ve had. This isn’t starting from scratch this is how to build on that foundation with that’s right FRESH ideas.
There’s a lot of things we can do to be updating our business but here are 5 things you can do now!
1- Personal branding photos- You may know this was going to be the first things i talk about, and it’s not just because i’m a photographer, but i mean it IS important.
Did you know the content i get the most interaction with are posts about me? And this isn’t just my business, almost every business owner I know has found this to be true too. Of course your product and services are important, and if it’s not in a continual growth business will go stale too BUT what people really care about is the person behind the business. They want to get to know YOU and support YOU. It’s scary especially for those who haven’t found this to be true or it still feels unnecessary or even selfish to show yourself or even narcissistic, but think about how seeing the face behind the business has grown to be SO important, we support people not just the business. We get to know the passion, experience, and hard work.
It’ll also help with another points to refresh your business to help update behind the scenes, you doing your thing. this doesn’t mean you need to go buy 10 outfits and book a photographer for 3 days, but book a few hours, pick some basic and staple clothes you work in. Clean lines, and that showcase who YOU are, find a personal branding photographer to show you behind the desk working on the products, bun on top of your head and a big ol cup of coffee supporting your business moves. You giggling really loudly maybe even with those pink fuzzy slippers (not in all the photos, but i mean if that’s your thing, work it!)
Think about showing your products in a whole new way- still consistent but showing it in a new enviroment, people want to see what they can connect with and want to invest in things they feel connected with. Get detail shots along with you working, and this is something you can batch and get a ton of photos in a short time and then have content to help with the upcoming ideas too!
Your photos may seem good enough, but higher quality and updated photos could really add to your site, social media, and all things freshening up. People like to be sold a story to show the products or service as it’s being worked on, show what it’s like and get some pull back images if it’s behind the scenes of you working with a client. Give your followers and future customers something to connect with and feel like they’re closer in touch with.
2- Marketing (add in testimonials, videos, get down a social media plan)
Networking marketing This is ongoing, we feel like once we market and business starts going, it tends to be one of the first things we put to the side until we NEED it again. But try to re-eveulate the importance of marketing and how it’s not JUST online.
Take a look at that calendar and find 2 events per month either networking, supporting other small business events, or just ones you think would fit in your schedule to join. The point isn’t to meet everyone, just to build relationships. That’s how business will grow, it takes time but it’s so worth it. Those are the ones that will repost, refer, and help you grow when you build genuine relationships. so even though network marketing can take at least a year to see that happen, those relationships will help in the long run and never stop networking.
Marketing also is your social media plan- okay maybe now i’m talking your language now that means you can sit behind the computer and not get ready to go and market yourself. but keep in mind it’s not just posting periodically or randomly when you feel like it. Sit down and figure out a calendar. I didn’t do this better until recently and it makes a huge difference to make my pages consistent. Think about downloading an app like Later to help schedule out your posts, you can even upgrade and do stories this way too! I should’ve listened to this a long time ago, and i’m so thankful for my assistant Abby, who basically made me do this. Helps me schedule out as far out as i want to post, take a little time to batch and then it’s ready for the week! whew, it’s so slick and i promise it’ll save you time. Not to mention, you can upload the content into the app, so your team members can start to create future posts too.
Along with this plan, start to make plans to change it up. From posts of YOU (remember with this personal branding photos) to behind the scenes, videos, and products and even quotes. Make a schedule so you not only have a beautiful platform but it feels consistent too with not the same content every time you post.
Testimonies are important and start to get them BEFORE it goes stale, you can even put this into your workflow. If you’re not using a client management system, i do suggest Honeybook to have it all in one place and you can automate some of these features so once it goes to the client, you don’t have to worry about it! It makes your process more seamless, beautiful, and easier on you. Once you get those testimonials, integrate them into your posts. It’s not just words from YOU about your service or product but people’s real life experience with you and some people get stuck- you can ask them specific questions like how your service helped them, or what problem it helped solve. This is a great way to also give a shout out thanks to your past clients who you have absolutely loved and when’s the last time you went right to the review section before purchasing? if you’re anything like me, you read reviews all the time, so start gathering those reviews too! Like i said you can even automate this into your process so it automatically sends it out after a client has purchased from you.
Pinterest. Okay, not until recently did i start using this platform more and i know it still has so much more potential. unlike Facebook and instagram where our posts may appear for minutes, and if you’re lucky hours.. Pinterest pins can live on and show up for months after they’re been pinned. I’m seeing certain pins months after i posted that are getting reposting- and more importantly people to click on my website to see more.
Marketing is a big one- ready for the last part of it? email marketing. Social media can be a great tool for client growth and connecting, but all those followers aren’t really yours- but if you have someone sign up for your newsletter you have the control over the education, entertainment, and new offers! It takes a lot for someone to sign up for newsletters now, so make it a place where they’re not only getting sold too, they become really your fans with your education, entertainment, things you love, and what you can do for them! Take some time to maybe think of a new offer for new subscribers and yup automate it.
3- update your website
Never ending work flow for a lot of entrepreneurs, but don’t forget how important it is to update your website. It’s YOUR URL on the web and you can make it completely all yours, so before the website gets stale too, take some time to add in those things you’ve been putting off. Update the photos of the products, add in the new services or products, update your bio. Bios can be difficult, but if you take the time for a great little introduction, you can use bits and pieces of that for bios in other places including pinteret, instagram, facebook, and more.
4- think about hiring or having a meeting with your Virtual Assistant.
I know, if business is slow or not sure o the next step, hiring someone can seem dauntingly scary. And if its a first hire, it’s the hardest, but once you have a taste, you’ll want to continue. If you take the time and find a great person who does the things you’re not good at with ease, it’s a great fit. You don’t want to hire someone who isn’t as good as you for the things they’ll be doing. You want someone better than you and can bring some great input too. I’ll tell you first hand it requires some letting go of some pride. To allow someone to see it from a fresh new perspective and to push your business in a new way. But hiring a VA can be a first great step to freshening up your whole business and filling In gaps of knowledge and business that you’ve been looking for. Want new ideas, get more team members. I always thought i’d want to be a solo entrepreneur, but really i don’t. i want to hire a small team to help me grow and help me with the things i’m not great at and honestly don’t like doing. It’s been a huge learning curve, but allow for some grace as you both learn and grow together.
If you have a team, get together and get some fresh ideas going. it doesn’t have to be a brand new product, but it might be! it might be a new way to get people to sign up for your newsletter, something new to add in, automating emails with something new, or just getting together for team photos. Allow the team to think outside the box and work together to freshen up and also get you excited about something new!
5- Take some time on your process with clients. Automate
If you have some awesome management software and your process is on point, then props to you because i’ve been in business for years, and this year i finally took the leap to get software that helps my process and transitions more smooth (of course there are still kinds to work out as i learn but it’s improving!) the best part is, having a management software is allowing my business to grow with a team (so far just me and Abby, but we both have the goal of hiring on more people in time.) Which means we can both grow and then teach future team members the ins and outs, have it all in one place, and make it streamline to grow.
If you don’t have a system, again i can’t suggest honey book enough. it has all my client info, automated proposals, invoices, calendar, tasks, payments and more. It helps my clients experience to be more consistent with time and make sure i’m not forgetting steps! I also have a 50% code for your first year, so if you’re thinking about it, sign up free and if you LOVE it, use the code! It’ll be in today’s show notes at
www.davistaphotography.com/shinepodcast/5waystostayfresh
i know we all feel like our plate is overflowing with to do’s but whether you came from the corporate world or always had a business you know you have to stay fresh , update, and excited about business too. And it’s overwhelming i know, so just pick one!pick one thing at a time to get that head down and work hard at. I know that you’ll start to hit the ground running once you start this project, It’s not doing all the things in one bound, its the small shifts that change your business, steps in the right direction. and as john c Maxwell said, you will never change your life until you change something you do daily. So start small and keep going, my hope is that you see progress both in growth and also the time you eventually get back again.
keep shining
