What’s the Best Thing You Can Do for Your Business This Year?

It’s the New Year! Woo-hoo! Yippee!

A fresh start to make a real difference. We all have great hopes and big plans – well sort of.

You may or may not make resolutions, but odds are if you do, you will not achieve them. Now I am not being a wet blanket here – just honest.

I ALSO WANT YOU TO KNOW IT DOESN’T HAVE TO BE THAT WAY.

Part of the problem with those big hopes, dreams, plans, goals and resolutions is that they are wishy-washy, nebulous and “just kinda out there.” They feel like “wouldn’t it be nice if…” rather than “THIS WILL HAPPEN.”

Besides making your goals SMART (specific – measurable – attainable – relevant – time-bound), you have to get your mind right and then take action using good tools like AddressTwo.

I could write a book on getting your mindset and beliefs in order (there are LOTS of books out there already), but establishing your own library of John Maxwell books will be the fastest and easiest way to make it happen. Here’s a great one to get you started:

How Successful People Think: Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life by John C. Maxwell (HARDCOVER)

We all have hard heads when it comes to different things, and developing positive, productive and effective thinking takes years of work and practice – a lifetime! So, it’s never too early nor too late to work on that.

That being said, one of the most remarkable actions business owners can take for their personal development and professional success is to join a Mastermind Group. For the last two decades I have consistently participated in Mastermind Groups. It’s exciting and energizing and makes a real difference in each member and their business.

I facilitate avariety of coaching sessions including the Grow Your Business Mastermind Groups and each one is as powerful as the next for the members. The collaboration, sharing, honest feedback with differing ideas and perspectives, and accountability bring a whole new level of thought – and because of that, businesses shift to new, previously unrecognized, levels. Everyone and every business grows.

So, don’t think, “wouldn’t it be nice if…” when you set your goals this year. Be SMART when you set them, and then join a Mastermind Group to really bring those goals to fruition. That would be the best thing you could do for your business this year!

To Your Success,

 

                                                                    

Mom Did Know Best: Clean it up!

It has to happen every once in a while and this is the perfect time of year to face it. I’m talking about cleaning up your list.

This realization came crashing down on a client recently and it just serves to remind me that it is one of the last things busy small business owners are thinking about, but it is just so important.

photo credit: ginasanders @123rf.com

Is your list a mess?

This client wanted to establish a monthly email newsletter. One of the steps was uploading the CSV

file of his list into the app. When the CSV file arrived and my team and I took a look at it, we immediately realized that there was a lot of work to do before it could ever be uploaded.

First off, information had been entered into the wrong fields and we had first names like Quick and surnames like Order. Then there were company names entered where the contact’s name should have been. That was just the beginning. After reviewing the file, there were lots of other changes like who the contact for the company was now and outdated email addresses.

Hey, don’t beat yourself up because there are always changes and mistakes, it’s inevitable that your list needs to be cleaned up, sorted out and purged of all sorts of inaccurate information. But the thing you have to keep in mind is that your list of contacts is one of the most valuable assets you have in your business. So you need to keep it polished up and in good working order.

Make an update part of your regular maintenance.

The end of the year is a busy time and part of the busy-ness is sending “thank you for your business this year” greetings to your clients. Take this opportunity to review your list. Make it part of the process in sending those greetings. Schedule it for fall. That gives you time to actually remove any problem entries as well as request new, updated data.

In some instances, the email contact may be the only information you have. Sending out requests for actual postal mailing addresses via email will help you sift through outdated emails as well as provide an extra touch with the client and get more information from them.

AND, while you are doing that, remind yourself of all the contacts and potential clients that you haven’t connected with for some time. Out of mind means just that – out of mind, and out of mind means a big NO SALE on the cash register.

So cleaning up is not just cleaning up, but use it for bringing to mind potential clients that need a note, call or some other bit of communication from you. Use it to re-connect and update your records. The biggest benefit is that you are ready for a big push in the New Year.

To Your Success!

Jack

GrowYour Business™ Coaching founder Jack Klemeyer is recognized as a preeminent resource for business professionals. As a John Maxwell Certified coach, speaker, trainer and facilitator of Mastermind groups for business owners and professionals, his results-driven philosophy calls for action and accountability. He and his Grow Your Business™ team are dedicated to taking businesses and their owners to the next level. Jack can be reached at Jack@GYBCoaching.com or at 317-755-6963. Learn more at GYBCoaching.com.

Holiday Email Marketing Tips

Have you started sending holiday emails yet? If not, what are you waiting for? Holidays are that time of year when people shop the most, and chances are that your small biz can benefit greatly from that. Successful email marketing is an amazing tool to reach out to your target audience and turn them into buying cust0mers.

If done right, that is.

If you’re sending emails just to send them, it won’t yield the results you need.

If you really want to impress them, stick to these holiday email marketing tips:

Plan in advance

A good marketing strategy is the first (and perhaps the only) thing you need to generate sales. A large number of marketers who know how to make a killer email holiday campaign start planning as early as August. But it’s not late now either.

Email marketing should be at your to-do list if you want results. There is no excuse – make a plan and stick to it. Let’s take a look at some of the tips on how to grab the attention of your target audience through holiday emails:

Focus on mobile

The first practical advice is to focus on mobile, and for a good reason. More and more people are checking on their mail and viewing it from the mobile devices. To put things into perspective, it has been reported that in 2014 that more that 50% traffic was mobile during holiday seasons. Below are a few tips on how to make sure that your emails are mobile-friendly:

Use an email template that is mobile-optimized

Keep it short and snappy

Three sentences on your computer may look like 6 sentences on your mobile device. So, make sure there isn’t too much text, otherwise people won’t even bother to read it. You emails need to be catchy and a bit personal, something people can relate to. Something short but powerful that will make them want to know more. 

Make it simple

The best email promotions are simple with a clear layout. If you have too many colors or use 5 different types of front people may get distracted from the main goal. And that is – to take some kind of action. 

Run a social media promotion

Prior to actually creating an email campaign, run a promotion on Facebook, Instagram etc. If you want your customers to respond to your holiday emails, first you have to remind them of who you are. Just to get their attention. So that when they receive an email from you, they’ll know who you are and they will be more likely to take action.  

Make them engage with you on social media. Engagement is the best way to get closer to you customers and stay on top of their mind. Run a holiday photo contest to make your followers engage. Alternatively, offer buy-one-get-one-free promotions to spur engagement. 

Use proper CTA

A call-to-action is supposed to make people buy something, so you need to make it catchy and simple. For an eye-catching call-to-action you can visually emphasize it. Also, you don’t have to use CTA just once – use it several time throughout your email.

The paradox of choice – stick to one

If you want to lead your potential customers to one single action, make sure you lead them with one single thought in mind. Even though you may have several products you’d like to offer, stick to just one, or to several relatable ones. You need to hack into the psychology of a buyer’s mind. Sometimes less is more, and in this case it seems to be truer than ever. People get easily confused if they need to choose between several things. 

Pay attention to the subject line

Last but not the least – make a killer subject line. Since the subject line is the first thing people see when they get a new email it’s worth investing some thought into it. How many times did you not open an email because of a crappy boring headline? Probably more often than you can remember. The same goes for your subscribers. If it doesn’t spark their interest, they won’t open it. There will be so many emails anyway, why would they waste time on reading yours? Because you have to offer them something others can’t. So express that in your subject line. You can do that by asking a question – questions resonate well with customers. And, of course, add some holiday spirit to it!