3 Simple Ways to Grow Your Small Business

What Every Small Business Owner Should be Doing

Growing business is always hard work but small business ownership doesn’t have to be exhausting. Many small business owners are frustrated before they even get started. Use these 3 simple ways to grow your small business.

Before covering the 3 simple steps, let me say this. If you don’t have a website you are losing money. (A Facebook page doesn’t count.)

When someone has a problem the first place they go is online (there is a reason people say “just google it”). Don’t drive customers to the competition.  Make sure they see your message.

1. Get Email Addresses

The first simple way to grow your small business is an opt-in, or lead generator. Get customer’s email addresses. Having a direct pipeline to customers (and potential customers) is the simplest way to grow business.

“But I have social media to connect with customers. I don’t need to email them too.”

WRONG!!  Social Media is a great way to grow your audience and connect with existing and new customers but it will never replace email for many reasons.  

Don’t let someone else control who sees your content.  I don’t know what an algorithm is, but social media platforms always change them. As few as 7-12% of followers see any given post on social platforms. That means customers do not see your content.

Email puts you in control. Get valuable information and see results by developing relationships through email nurture campaigns. Social media should drive people to your website so they can give you their email address. Give value in exchange for an email address by creating a lead generator customers want.

Your website needs an easy way for visitors to give you email addresses.  Pop-Ups, forms, newsletter subscriptions, free PDF, ebook… it doesn’t matter how, just get them. Then work on strategies to get better results.

The simplest way to start growing your small business is to get customer’s email.

2. Talk To Customers

The second simple way to grow your small business is talking to customers. Customers want to hear from an expert. That’s you.

With an email address, talk directly to customers.  It (almost) doesn’t matter what you say.  For big ticket items once a month might be enough, but most businesses should aim for weekly. There are lots of ways that work better than others but the one way proven not to work: not talking to them! 

When done right customers will thank you. The most generous companies in the world are the most successful. Give information. Start talking to customers because the competition isn’t.  Even if they don’t need you today, be top of mind when they do.  

Don’t forget about social media.  Send weekly emails and post that often, too.  It doesn’t do any good to have a Facebook link on your website if the most recent post was from last Arbor Day.

A website getting email addresses and following up with regular emails is a great start to growing business.

3. Ask for Reviews

The third simple way to grow your small business is ask for reviews.

Before clicking “Add to Cart” what do you check?  Reviews!  

So do your customers.  Social proof is a huge influence to grow businesses. People are more likely to do business with companies that have helped others with the same issue. (Plus, if you don’t ask your best customers for reviews the only one you will get is the 1 star left by your ex mother in law.)

Automate this process with a CRM. If you don’t already have one research one of the many free ones available. 

Here’s another place where social media is important.  Use social media to drive traffic to your website and use email to ask for reviews on all your platforms. So no matter where people find you online you have lots of reviews and high ratings.  

Your competence and authority as the expert is built for you.  You spend much less time trying to convince new customers to spend their money with you. 

Get Better Results

These 3 simple steps will grow small businesses. (Any business actually.) For the step-by-step plan to create lead generators and email campaigns to convert more browser’s into buyers get Marketing Made Simple, the online course to create a sales funnel for your business. It’s helped thousands of businesses grow.

Don’t get frustrated trying to grow your business. Use 3 simple steps proven to grow small businesses.

Share this with everyone you know trying to grow a small business. Transform your business into a profit-generating machine at MyCLEARMessege.com. For more tips to grow your business, follow CLEAR Message.  And be sure to leave a 5 star review and recommend it.