Author: kbarlow

J is for Justify:
When you’re building or growing your business, it can be hard to decide what gets the priority (your time and money) when you’re not doing client work.

Exercise: Try making a list of all your “to do” items on small slips of paper, and then move them around until the most important ones are first. It can be tempting to move the ones you’d rather do to the top (we all have our admin tasks we’d rather avoid!), but be honest with yourself in what needs to happen, and knowing that you’ve prioritized these items can help you justify the time and money you’re spending on them.

A few good examples are taking the time to write your business plan, have your website created, keep up with accounting/finances, goal setting and marketing. They’re all important, and they all deserve your time to create a solid foundation and keep things running smoothly, and your business growing. If you’re feeling overwhelmed or like you want to put something off, set your timer for as long as you think you can concentrate on a task (minimum 15 mins), and work on it for that amount of time. If your to do list is too long for one day (they usually are!), set an amount of time each day to focus on getting the top items done.

Caveat: Don’t spend your entire day organizing yourself. I’m guilty of spending way too long organizing and reorganizing under the idea that it’s necessary. If you’re like me, set the timer for the maximum amount of time it should take to organize, and then get on with it!

For more tips on how to organize your thoughts, check out the various systems I’ve used over the years. I usually end up mixing it up every so often as I find different ways of motivating myself.

K is for Keyword:
Keywords are more than just what you use for SEO! Using the right words in your website content and marketing will convert visitors to clients. You want your ideal clients to read your content, have them know you understand them, their pain points, and that the solution lies with you.

Those carefully selected keywords will be the ones that resonate with them – choose wisely and base it off your business plan research into your target market / ideal client!

L is for Logo:
Logos are some of the most challenging and satisfying projects to work on. There’s so much that needs to be conveyed in such a small mark that’s got to also be usable in a variety of sizes and ways. Good logos are clever, easily recognizable, scale well, and are unique.

If your current logo doesn’t reflect your company’s branding, doesn’t speak to your products, services, or your target market, it’s probably time for a new look. Keep in mind that the process shouldn’t be an overnight job. Hire a professional that is going to take the time to get to know your business and provide you with something unique that very accurately reflects your company.

Interested in learning more? Let’s chat! 

G is for Goals:
Setting goals can be daunting, but goals play such a key role in so many parts of your business – and can keep you on track for easier marketing!

First, let’s start with the obvious one: your financial goal for the year. Create a feasible (base it on your business’ history & target market research!), but also slightly ambitious goal to help you to push yourself. This one goal is going to drive a lot of smaller ones, as it works its way down through your business’ nitty gritty.

Step two: you’ve got your sales goal for the year, now break it down even further, how many products/services do you need to sell to reach that goal? (This can be tricky if you sell a variety of things, so base if off your ideal – but realistic -scenario.) Divide it by twelve, how many a month is that? Is that possible for you to accomplish without going over your maximum capacity for the month? If so, move on down to step three. If not – we need to sort out a few things so you’re not going to burn out trying to keep up with an impossible goal!

Step three: Which of your products are your best sellers? Which products and services make you the most happy to sell? Which ones do you want to focus your marketing on for this quarter, half year, or even for the full year? Remember if you’ve got a bigger number of products or services, that giving equal focus and weight to each of them means none will stand out. For example, if you sell handmade jewellery, but you also offer workshops, and the workshops are where you make the most money, and it’s your favourite part of your business – focus less on selling the individual products, and more on getting people into your workshops! You can mix it up if there are other things you’d like to sell too, but give yourself a solid couple of months promoting a one or two things to really get your message out there before moving on.
Note: Don’t forget your website! Make sure your website is always updated to reflect what your top/ideal sellers are! If you need some insight into the best way to organize your website for maximum impact for selling, shoot us an email and we’ll chat about what you can do!

Step four: Breaking down marketing into its own set of goals! (Flow chart, anyone? I know, it’s getting detailed!) There are so many streams available online alone, from e-commerce shops to social media channels – so how are you going to decide where to put your effort? Look at what you’re focused on selling, and go where those customers are. Let’s keep going with the example of jewellery workshops. Since jewellery is such a visual medium, Instagram is a great choice for marketing. You can post your own finished pieces, but beyond that, also show in progress pieces, behind the scenes work, short clips of what people can expect during your workshops. Find where your audience is, and show them what you have to offer, but don’t put all your marketing efforts into just one channel. Use the research you did for your business plan to know where your clients are.

Reaching goals feels great, but remember to celebrate the small goals you’ve reached so you don’t get too focused on just the biggest one.

H is for Highlight:
Highlighting your education, skills, awards, and other special qualities you bring to the table is a big part of establishing authority in your field, and credibility with potential clients.

Don’t forget to highlight these things on your website, through your marketing, and other places people might scope you out, such as LinkedIn.

I is for Invest:
Time to talk time and money. I hope by now it’s clear that your business plan, website, and marketing aren’t things that you should be able to do in a day. It takes time and effort, and usually an outside point of view to help you get out of your own head, and to suggest things you might not have even thought to consider.

Since the process is such an investment in time, money and mental space, you want to make sure that you pick the right person to work with. You find them easy to talk to, good with communication, and they should be genuinely excited for your project. If you’re going to take the time to do it, you might as well do it right the first time – use true professionals. People that have education and experience, references, and a solid portfolio of work. Referrals are a great way to check out people that might be able to help you with your business. My main source of clients are from word-of-mouth, and it’s something I’m very proud of.

Your online credibility is a big factor in what people look at before they decide to buy from you – to make sure they can trust your company to deliver what you’re offering. You want to have a clear message for your ideal client, and you want that message to show that you’re willing to invest in your own company so they trust you’ll provide a quality product/service to them too.

Want to learn more about working together? Shoot me a message and we can chat about what you need your clients to see in your business!

D is for Design:

Design is more than just making things look good. Design is about communicating a clear message.

The design of your elements is also your first impression to your target market. Are they seeing the message you’re trying to direct to your ideal clients? Are they seeing a quality product or service that they want to invest in? Knowing who your ideal client is is half the battle, but making sure that you know them well enough to be able to speak to them through your design and message to let them know you’re a good fit is just as important. Your design/branding elements (logo, website, social media, marketing) need to reflect your company’s message.

I often use a document called a “Scale for Tone” when I’m getting to know a business better. I use that in conjunction with their business plan to make sure that the two are meshing well together, and that a clear message will come across with the branding and design elements. Within the document are a series of adjectives (some more vague than others) that I ask to be put on a scale of one to ten. There’s a place for notes so they can explain what they mean for the more vague adjectives, and while it’s where I get the most questions – but it’s also where I often get the most clues as to what they really want their brand to say. Not everyone is able to accurately describe what they want succinctly, off the top of their head, but they can look look at a word, and know whether or not that describes their company or not, and by how much.

When the design concepts are complete and ready to be reviewed by the client, I’ll refer back to the Scales for Tone document, what we talked about in the business plan, show how the two are relevant, and why design choices were made based on their own business plan elements. It’s not about the font of the month or the colour or trend of the year – it’s about your business being reflected in your branding, and speaking to your ideal client.

E is for E-commerce:
Online shops are a great way to make your product available to people from anywhere, but there’s more to it than just signing up and uploading products! An important step is choosing the platform that’s best for your business plan, audience, and products.

For many people something like Etsy is where they started to sell online. Since Etsy controls how the shop functions, sets up the product space and delivers the audience, it’s a great first step into e-commerce, but can be limiting for people that are interested in showing more of their branding, sales, and in general having more control over how it looks and works. Many makers have an independent e-commerce solution like Shopify, WordPress + plugins, or one that works well with your brick and mortar store’s inventory system – either in tandem with Etsy or completely independent. Having your own site to be able to advertise your featured products, sales, and have customers be able to browse your products without having them be able to browse your competition at the same time is a great asset, but can be intimidating to start from scratch.

If you’re considering starting up an online shop, shoot me a message and we can talk about your platform options, goals, products, target audience and how to drive traffic to your online store so you don’t have to worry about the details – just making your products and getting them sold!

F is for Foundation:
Everyone knows the old adage about building a house on a strong foundation – the same is true for your business plan.

You need to lay the foundation of your business through your business plan. Do the research into what you’re offering, to who, why, and how. Once that foundation is set, you can use that to direct your planning for all the aspects of the day-to-day of running your business.

Your website’s structure, goals and design will be based on your business plan. Your marketing will be based on what you learned about your target market within your business plan. Your sales, online presence – it all falls back to the foundation you set with that plan – and it makes it so much easier when you’re confident in that foundation.

If you’re not feeling as though you started with a strong foundation, and it’s affecting your company’s message (be it through your website, marketing or online presence in general), check out the Business Plan Refresh, and we’ll see what we can do to make sure you know exactly who you’re talking to in all aspects of running your business!

A is for Analyze:
Analyzing is a part of business in several ways; you analyze how your marketing strategy is going (using tracking and analytics), you analyze how your business is growing, and it’s also important to analyze your online presence (website and social media) to make sure that it’s in line with your target market, your goals, and branding message. If you’re not analyzing where you’re at, you could be missing opportunities to improve your message, better speak to (and engage with) your ideal clients, and identify where you’re leaving money on the table.
See where you’re missing opportunities – get a website analysis now »

B is for Business Plan:
Taking the time to create a solid business plan including market research, a financial plan, operations processes, systems templates, a marketing plan and a sales plan will provide you with the foundation you need to better predict the viability and profitability of your business. Get a sense of what you can expect running your business, and discover valuable insights about your target market, competition and overall picture.

Even if you’ve already started your business, ever changing trends, technologies, and any number of other factors will affect your business plans and goals. Look at each aspect of your business annually, create new goals, and assess what worked in previous years (and what didn’t!). It’s important to recognize these changes, and have a plan to make your business thrive in the positive, and survive and overcome the challenges.
Is your business idea feasible? » or Refresh your existing plan with this year’s goals »

C is for Call-to-Action:
Call-to-actions are a vital part of marketing – you want to make sure you’re letting your audience know what you want them to do! Call-to-actions are phrases that prompt the user to want to take some sort of action. For example: purchase something, sign up for a newsletter, take part in an offer, etc. Encouraging your audience to take action is often done through creating a sense of urgency (a limited time offer), getting something in return (a freebie/discount/sale), or evoking enough curiosity on their part to click the link (click-bait titles). CTAs are also often used for tracking how well a campaign is doing, or testing different methods of advertising by analyzing which ones were the most effective.

How effectively are you using CTAs in your online marketing and website? Get an analysis of your website based on your business goals, and find out where you could improve user click-through »