5 Easy Steps You Can Take To Improve Your Company’s Brand Awareness

/in /by

StrategyDriven Marketing and Sales Article |Brand Awareness|5 Easy Steps You Can Take To Improve Your Company's Brand AwarenessBrand awareness is critical for any business considering that it impacts the number of people that know about your company. This will then affect the likelihood that your products and services will be used in the first place, and this is hence something that must be prioritized.

The good news is that there are a few easy steps that you can take to improve your organization’s marketing tactics. First, however, you must determine what goals you want to meet. You need something to work towards, after all. Once you have dealt with this, you will need to ensure that you have a strong online presence, tailor your content to your target audience, and get assistance from a team of professionals that know exactly how to achieve all of this.

Set business goals you want to meet

Every single business must have a number of goals that they are working towards. When you are devising your marketing strategy, these must be kept top of mind at all times. Ask yourself; how much profit are you expecting to make within the following year? Do you want to improve your relationship with your customers?

Ensure you have a strong online presence

Having a strong online presence is important for improving your brand awareness. This includes having a website as well as a social media presence where your audience can learn more about you and where they can interact with your content. In order to have a strong presence, you also must make sure that the content you post in the first place is high quality in nature, including both the copy and imagery.

Importance of your target audience

It is thanks to your target audience that you can improve your profitability as a company, and that is why you need to identify who they are. Everything that you post on any one of your social media platforms must be tailored to your audience. Think about what their likes and dislikes are and how they would benefit from using your company’s ideas and products.

Get assistance

It’s always important to get the experts assistance on matters of marketing. There are so many marketing agencies that specialize in improving your brand’s presence, why wouldn’t you make use of them?

One such example is DigitalCoast Marketing, and they are both a web design and online marketing agency that specializes in SEO, pay per click advertising, social media marketing, video marketing, and much more. While your in-office team dedicates their time and effort to other company matters, the marketing professionals can improve your strategy and boost your brand awareness. It’s a win-win situation.

Boosting brand awareness is not as hard as you may think, but it will take some time until you notice all of the results that you were expecting. If you give it time, persevere, and change strategies if something is not producing results, then you will notice a huge improvement to your company’s online traffic and engagement.

Strategies For Running A Better Business

/in /by

StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article |Running a Business|Strategies For Running A Better BusinessYour business will be that much more successful when you take the time to learn more about what you can be doing to improve your ways. It’s all about where your focus exists and how well you’re able to follow and stick to your business plan.

The following strategies are going to help you make sure you’re concentrating on some of the most important aspects so you can run a better business. Remember to take your time and implement changes the right way instead of rushing around and making decisions on the fly. While it may take some time before you see the results you desire, have confidence that your hard work will eventually pay off.

Monitor Spending

You can run a better business by being diligent about monitoring your company’s spending. For example, if you work in the trucking business, then look into ways for how you can reduce fleet costs. These are the types of small adjustments you should be making that will add up to big savings over time. The less you spend, and more you make the more satisfied you’re going to be at the end of the day.

Delegate out Tasks

Another strategy for running a better business is to get in the habit of delegating out tasks to others. The less daily operational responsibilities you have on your plate the more time you’ll have to focus on higher level business initiatives. Get to know your employees and their strengths so you know who will be best at handling each of the different assignments. It’s all about you having trust in your employees that they can get the job done for you the right way and by the required deadline.

Gather Feedback from Others

It’s also important that you’re a good listener and are willing to hear other people out regarding their ideas for improvement. Be proactive and gather feedback from clients and employees so you have a better idea about what you’re doing right and where you’re missing the mark. This way you’ll be able to make informed decisions based on real facts and opinions versus you making assumptions or playing guessing games.

Improve Your Website

In this day and age it’s critical you have a well functioning and professional looking website for your clients to use and potential customers to check out. Be sure to include important information on your company site such as special promotions you’re running and contact information for getting in touch with you. You may want to consider working with a professional designer to ensure that your website is easy to use and that you choose attractive colors and fonts that aren’t distracting.

Conclusion

Running a business is hard work and will take a lot of time and dedication on your part. However, know you can get to a better place when you follow these suggestions and are flexible with your management style and approach. Stick with it and it won’t be long before you’re on your way to experiencing more success and fulfilling days ahead.

What Do You Need To Know As A First Time Business Owner?

/in /by

StrategyDriven Entrepreneurship Article |Starting a Business|What Do You Need To Know As A First Time Business Owner?Being a first time business owner is a transitional time in your life. You’re striking out on your own in a way you never have before, taking your career into your own hands, and placing a lot of responsibility on your own head. Frankly, it’s a lot easier to return to your old office as a subordinate, and do some of your best work toiling away for someone else!

But when you want to start a business, you don’t want easy. You don’t expect it, and you don’t prepare for it. You know it’s going to be a challenge to get up and running, and you know it’s going to be a fight to be recognised by your peers and customers alike. You know the chances of failing are greater than the chances of succeeding, and you’ve steeled yourself for any disappointments and criticism that come your way. And you already know there’s going to be a lot of those!

Which is why there’s some things out there you need to know. You want to go into starting a business with a clear head and a realistic vision. You want to give yourself the best chance to make a profit, and then continue to do so, without failing before you reach your fifth year.

It’s something a lot of people aren’t ready to do, but you’re not going to become just another small business statistic! With that in mind, here’s just a few of the most important things to always keep in the back of your head as you go on this journey.

How to Effectively Use Your Focus

Starting a business is going to require a lot of focus. You’re going to need to always keep your eye on the ball, and you’re going to need to keep to a strict schedule to make sure your grip on success is never slipping. Even just an hour longer in bed than usual means you can miss catching the worm.

If you’re going to start a company, your focus needs to be trained on multiple areas all at once. More importantly, you need to have the same kind of focus for each area, and to rarely treat any one as more of a priority than the other. For example, you need to be researching the market, constantly and extensively, whilst you continuously network with potential investors, walking into meetings with all the right facts and figures in your pocket.

One slip of your focus and you could give the wrong impression, or you could note down a gap in the market that doesn’t actually need filling, because you lacked the energy to read through your materials properly. Tasks like these need to happen concurrently. After all, if you can’t show an investor some real time figures over the need for your product in the market, they’re not going to be very interested in your product!

How to Be Concise in Your Communication

Communicating effectively is something you’ve got to learn to become an effective business owner and leader. You need to be charismatic and confident in all your correspondence, whether it be written or spoken, whether it be public or private, and you to always at least look like you know what you’re talking about!

And that’s done via keeping anything you say to a short and concise statement. A couple of sentences here and there, or only a minute or two to get your point across properly. And if you can hammer home the use of your business in the current economy in only 30 seconds or less, the more’s the better! When you can be short and sweet, you can be adaptable, and get your company message across even when just in conversation at a networking event.

In order to do this, you’re going to have to practice. You’re going to have to look in the mirror for a few minutes every day and speak to yourself; use this time to perfect your sales pitches, and to see how your body language and your expressions match up. You are your harshest critic, at the end of the day, and that means you’re the perfect judge here.

How You Can Use Your Vehicle

You’re just starting out in your business, and for the time being, you might just be classed as a self employed entrepreneur. You might not have your company up and running yet, and you might not know when you’re going to be able to register your business with your local government. It’s a bit of a grey area for you, and you’re not sure how to note it down on the records. But in the meantime, you’re not on anyone else’s payroll, and you might just still be churning out a profit.

So, not only do you need to be aware of your status as a worker for tax purposes, but also when it comes to the use of your car, which is the crux of this point. After all, you can’t claim gas money on your vehicle if it’s only used in a private manner, and the insurance policy you already have might not cover you under business purposes either.

Not to mention, it can be a bit of murky legal area as well. Being involved in a car accident is hard enough when you’re on the road for your own means, let alone if you’re driving to an investment meeting or a networking event. It can even be a lot more expensive depending on the type of car that’s involved with yours; for example, you might to need to fork out for a lawyer or service that’s knowledgeable in special laws regulating semi-trucks. Would you be able to manage that, and the repair or write off costs, based on your limited income in the time being?

Being a first time business owner can be quite daunting, but it’s something you’ll warm to. After all, it’s a time where you can prove what you’re capable of!

6 Ways Your Business Is Wasting Energy

/in /by

StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article |Wasting Energy |6 Ways Your Business Is Wasting EnergyOver the past few years, we’ve become much more aware of the impact that we’re having on the planet. Ice caps have melted, forests have been cut down, and entire species have been wiped out. As a small business, you might think that there’s little you can do about these issues. Thankfully, that isn’t true. By limiting the energy that you waste, you can help the planet, as well as save money and boost your image. Or if you are intending to switch to a better more energy conserving provider, be sure to check out https://www.simplyswitch.com/.

Here are six ways your business is wasting energy.

Leaving The Lights On

Unless you have staff working through the night, your office should not have its lights left on all hours of the day. This is incredibly wasteful, not to mention pointless. Instead, you should go around the building and ensure that they’re all turned off. If you think that you might forget to do this, or simply don’t want to, then switch to motion sensor lights or put them on a timer instead.

StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article |Wasting Energy |6 Ways Your Business Is Wasting EnergyScheduling Cleaners At Night

A clean office is a productive office. This is why many employers hire janitorial staff to keep the workspace looking its best. If you have any control over when these employees work, then you should schedule their hours during the day or just after all other staff go home. By doing this, you limit how much extra energy you use and save yourself from paying off-peak energy costs.

Ignoring The Necessary Repairs

Many repairs can cause you to use much more energy than you need to. A leaking roof, for example, will let warm air out and cold air in so that you have to turn up the thermostat. For this reason, you should look into tpo roof repair. Forgetting to change your air filters will also cause heating problems, as dirt and debris will make it much harder to push air through.

Overcharging Your Mobile Devices

Everyone knows that charging cell phones and laptops is important, especially in a workplace where you tend to need them. However, once your gadgets have full batteries, there’s no reason why you should leave them plugged in. They won’t go over 100% after all. Plus, when you overcharge certain mobile devices, it can damage their batteries, making them less efficient.

Covering Up The Vents

Office occupants are going to move furniture around from time to time. You just need to be careful of where they put things. If desks, filing cabinets, or chairs are pushed in front of vents, this will block the airflow, meaning that your HVAC system will have to work much harder. This extra work will waste a lot more energy and cause your energy bills to skyrocket.

Having Unnecessary Vending Machines

A vending machine can make your staff very happy, but it also uses electricity every hour of the day. If your team aren’t using the machine very much, therefore, you should consider getting rid of it. Turning the machine off at night is also an option, but only works for machines containing items that won’t spoil without refrigeration.

Don’t let high energy bills get you down. With the advice above, you can help your wallet and the planet at the same time.

Why Committing to Becoming 1% Better Every Day Can Turn Everything around

/in /by

StrategyDriven Professional Development Article |Pursuit of Excellence|Why Committing to Becoming 1% Better Every Day Can Turn Everything aroundEveryone wants to achieve a degree of excellence in their lives, whether that means developing a killer business that takes the industry by storm, and revolutionises how things are done, or whether it means being the best possible spouse, parent, or friend we can be.

To that end, it pretty much goes without saying that, at any given time, hordes of people are doing their best to carry out ambitious plans for self-development, in the pursuit of that elusive and much-craved “excellence.”

Does your business involve a decent degree of marketing? Then, no doubt, you’re interested in applying next level channel marketing strategies to really kick things up a notch. Are you perhaps not in the best physical shape of your life, but really want to be? Then, you’re probably also one of the millions of people who sign up for the gym each January, in order to make good on a New Year’s resolution to get fit.

The only problem is, it’s actually legitimately difficult to become “excellent” in any given domain. Not only that, but it’s typically difficult even knowing how to begin setting about pursuing excellence in many dimensions of life.

The thing about big plans is that they are difficult to execute, difficult to keep track of, and are prone to all sorts of hiccups and mishaps along the way. It’s for this reason, among others, that Scott Adams – the famous creator of the Dilbert comics – advises that people should forget about goals altogether, and should focus on “systems” instead.

According to Adams, “systems” are the daily routines and rituals that you act out, that move you closer to success and prosperity in a given area; whereas goals are about setting a target for some point in the future, and then living in a state of permanent dissatisfaction and disappointment, as a result.

There are good critiques to be made of Adams anti-goal stance. But, there’s no denying that focusing on certain daily “systems” can be a powerful way of achieving excellence in work and life.

One “system” that has been promoted by many serious business and lifestyle gurus, is the pursuit of becoming “1% better” in a given area, each day.

Here are a few reasons why committing to becoming 1% better every day may turn everything around for you.

Because it’s a realistic scale of achievement and progress

To use the analogy of fitness, once more – setting yourself a goal like “I’m going to run an ultramarathon,” when you currently can’t even jog 1 mile without wheezing – or setting yourself a goal like “I’m going to bench press 300 pounds,” when you currently can’t even do a single push-up – may well not be the most productive way forward.

Among other things, setting yourself these kinds of major, ambitious goals right out the gate, puts you in a position where the scale of achievement and progress you’re aiming for is extremely difficult to conceptualise, or believe in.

It’s not that you can’t achieve those feats – it’s just that, until you get closer, you may struggle immensely to “believe in” them, or to feel satisfied by the progress you’re making along the path.

Striving to become “1% better each day,” on the other hand, represents a realistic scale of achievement and progress that just about everyone can believe in, regardless of where they’re starting off from.

Of course, “1%” isn’t a perfectly mathematical calculation, here. It’s just a euphemism for making really small, but consistent, improvements every day. Perhaps you went for a 10-minute jog yesterday, and felt exhausted. So, today, try to go for an 11-minute jog. this will be achievable for you, and you will feel good about achieving it, too. Then, tomorrow, you can go for a 12-minute jog. And so on.

After a year, you’re likely to be in such a dramatically superior position in life, that it’s hard to believe how far you’ve come.

Because momentum is a large part of what success in business is all about

Success in business, specifically, has plenty to do with things like innovation, and hard work, but there’s a good argument to be made that the most important skill for any aspiring entrepreneur, is simple grit, determination, and consistency.

Of course, this applies to just about everything else in life, too. It’s rarely the people who come out with a single dramatic “flash in the pan” burst of hard work who really innovate and transform things, and secure themselves a place in the annals of history.

Far more often, it’s the people who turn up to work every day, whether or not they feel like it, and who keep iterating and optimising, and moving forward, until things come together.

Focusing on becoming 1% better every day is a great way of building that sort of momentum, and of developing the kind of “staying power” that can really move mountains over time.

Striving to become 1% better every day is also a great antidote to the all-too-common tendency of many aspiring entrepreneurs, to want to spend an inordinate amount of time at the “drawing board,” as opposed to actually making things happen.

When you know that it’s about the journey along the road of incremental improvement, rather than the “single miraculous action,” you give yourself permission to actually get started, and work out the kinks along the way.

Because it will prevent you from backsliding

Setbacks inevitably happen, and you’re not always going to be in a better position, business-wise, today than you were yesterday.

All the same, one of the great things of striving to become 1% better every day, is that it puts you in a great frame of mind to avoid backsliding, and to fight against the ever-present threat of entropy.

Even if a crisis situation occurs in your business, and puts you on the back foot, striving to become 1% better will keep you pointed upwards, and will remove your excuses for compromising, or taking the easy way out.

Ultimately, guarding yourself against the tendency to backslide is just as important as anything else, when it comes to consistency and the pursuit of excellence.