October is Small Business Month in Canada and after a trying 2 years, it’s more important than ever to recognize small businesses that are learning to navigate this new normal. Whether you’re just starting out or just thinking about that entrepreneur life, are a few Top Strategies that will help that small business grow!
Tip 1: Create Your Website
If you build it, they will come.” – Find a great one-stop-shop service that can help you set up your domain, customized email, web builder tools, graphic design etc.
Tip 2: Focus on SEO Best Practices
Content is, indeed, king (and queen)! – You want customers to find your site easily. Ensure that you’re writing high-quality, original content while taking high-quality video/photos.
Attractive, well-written, trustworthy, and informative content helps keep readers interested and engaged and makes them more likely to share and link to it, thus increasing engagement and search engine rankings.
Research keywords, your content should be focused on primary keywords. Use the specific words or phrases that your audience would use to search/refer to your products or services.
Tip 3: Build a Social Meid a Community
Enhance your social media presence AND Grow your customer base through networking. Social media use has exploded across the globe especially for business/advertising needs – 86% of Canadians spend more than 80% of their online time interacting with businesses on social media to some degree. As a small business, you have the opportunity to reach these social media users like never before.
- 59% on Facebook
- 27% on Instagram
- 17% on Twitter
- 16% on YouTube
- 9% on LinkedIn
- 7% on Pinterest
Engage with your audience and customers regularly. Make sure that your customer service is personalized by answering questions or responding to comments directly, and, of course, addressing any issues as quickly as possible.
Tip 4: Networking
Much of the world must network virtually and is considered a top growth strategy in the new normal. If you’re looking for ways to engage directly with your clients, try running virtual events or virtual shopping events with:
- IG/FB Live
- Odience and Livescale app
- Enable employees to easily communicate/network with each other using
- Slack, Microsoft Teams, or Google Hangouts.
- Keep track of your contacts, manage leads, and send newsletters with apps such as Apptivo, HubSpot, Mailchimp, and others.
Tip 5: Set up for Remote Working
Ensure that your business is set up for remote working and tracking productivity AND Invest in the right technology for you and your business. The remote workforce has now become the new normal and it’s not going anywhere.
In fact, 65% of Canadian companies surveyed said that remote working actually improved productivity. Working remotely for small businesses means more than working from home, it now embraces working on the road, working on the go, and working around the clock.
Shared workspaces can be a great way to access many business tools at once. CAR TECH supports work-life integration – optimizing your car technology (Apple/Android Car Play, wifi etc) can make you efficient between errands and stops.
Make the right investments in technology for your small business to save time, help you stay competitive, and even improve your cash flow.
Procure the right software – consider tools such as:
- Google Drive
- Box
- Dropbox
- Microsoft OneDrive
- Asana
- QuickBooks
- VPN
It is also important to consider your hardware. If you’re looking to upgrade your current setup or invest in new technology, consider your short and long-term requirements regarding upgradability, performance, price, security, and more.
Invest in a great AIO Desktop, laptop, printer, WIFI extenders and SLR Camera, Phone and Ring light/Tripod.
