10 Tasks to Jumpstart a Slow Business

Running a business involves so much coordination and organization that it can be easy to burn out or focus on the wrong tasks, which can result in stalled growth. If your small business is faltering, here are ten things you can do right now to jumpstart it.

Revisit Your Business and Marketing Plan

Things can go awry in business when you veer off the path or you’ve taken on too many tasks. Reviewing your business and marketing plan can center and remind you to go back to basics. Or you may discover that your business and marketing plan needs to be tweaked.

Check Your Stats to See What’s Working, What’s Not, And/Or What’s Changed

Tracking is a crucial component of a successful business. Without it, you don’t know what’s going on in your business. Check your website stats either through your web host or set up Google Analytics. These resources provide data on the most popular pages, how people came to your site, and more. In the case of Google Analytics, you can get demographic data (gender and age) as well as their interests.

Also, check stats on your social media engagement and email list (or what gets the most opens or clicks). If you do off-line promotions, track the results of those such as asking people where they found you or having a code on each promo type and/or location that prospects share that lets you know how they found you.

Once you have your data, use it to provide what your market wants or needs, focus on what works and dump or tweak what isn’t working.

Revamp Your Website

Even you’re blogging and adding new content regularly, visitors can get blind to other options on your site. While you don’t want to make a big change that confuses visitors, making a few tweaks on a regular basis can help keep visitors engaged.

Revamp Your Social Media Profiles

Similar to your website, social media profiles can get dull for followers as well. Change your profile pictures (but keep them appropriate and profession) every-now-and-then. Tweak your bio and other text, keeping it current and interesting.

Create a Freebie and Promote It Everywhere

People love free stuff. Not only will they get it for themselves, but often they’ll tell others about it. Ideally, you should connect your freebie to your email list so people need to subscribe to get your free offer. But you don’t always have to do that. You might get greater distribution and downloads (for online freebies) if you don’t require an email.

Once you have your freebie, promote it on your website, social media, email list, etc.

Re-Engage With Your Network

Networking is one of the best ways to rejuvenate a stalled business. Even if people in your network don’t need your product or services now, they may know others who do. Or they may be willing to share your information with their network.

When engaging with your network, don’t beg for leads or sound desperate. Instead, start a conversation or let people know you’re there to help. The most effective networking focuses on others’ needs, not your own.

Use Social Media Automation Tools to Schedule New and Reschedule Old Posts

Social media is effective at informing and connecting with your market, but it’s also time-consuming. Using tools such as HootSuite or Buffer to schedule one post that goes out to all your networks saves time.

Another issue is that by creating so much content, the old stuff gets pushed aside for the new stuff, even though the old content is still good. If your site is built on WordPress, add a plugin that will repost old content to your social media accounts. If you don’t use WP, you can use a social media tool, such as Hootsuite, to schedule reposting of old content.

Connect With Past Clients, Customers, and Prospects

It’s easier and cheaper to convert a past client or customer into a new sale to get a new one. There are many ways to reconnect with your past clients. A handwritten note will offer the most bang for your buck. Or you can make a phone call, checking in to see how they are doing and if they have questions about the product or service they bought. You can do the same with prospects that showed an interest, but haven’t yet bought.

Finally, seek referrals. Second only to repeat customers, referrals are the easiest and cheapest source for new business.

Hold a Fireside Sale

Just as people like free stuff, they also like bargains. There are many ways to hold a fireside sale. One is to put your products or services on sale. Another option is to bundle products and services together and offer them at a discount. To make big sales, seek out joint venture opportunities with a business who might be willing to promote your sale to their network in exchange for referral compensation, such as through an affiliate program.

Do a Blog/Podcast Tour

The secret to business success is marketing. An easy and affordable way to show you’re an expert and get in front of your market is by writing for other sites or doing interviews on podcasts. This starts by knowing who your market is and the blogs and podcasts they enjoy. Next, make a list of blogs and podcasts and email their owners, editors or producers with a pitch. Tell them who you are, what you have for them, and why you’re a good person to have on the site or show. For example, if you have a virtual assistant business, you can contact blogs and podcasts geared toward entrepreneurs and suggest an article or show on how entrepreneurs can save time and make money through outsourcing.