4 Tips for Growing Your Business This Summer
While the summer weekdays sometimes pass slowly and the weekends fly by too fast, there are still plenty of warm days ahead — and time to make the most of a season that for some, hits a lull. It is certainly not always that way for every business owner, but for some, it’s easy to see a dip in sales or social media engagement when prospective clients are taking time off.
However, just because vacations are in full swing, you can still beat the heat with these tips for keeping your small business sizzling and growing — and prepared for a busy fall and winter ahead!
1. Plan a free opt-in offer — this is a surefire way to grow your email list and get potential clients excited about working with you or what you have to offer this fall or winter. Whether it’s a social media challenge, week-long email series, webinar or video training, or downloadable PDF, put together something free and valuable, that will really help to solve a common problem or pain point for your client — and will leave them wanting more.
2. Prepare content for the rest of the year — this can be done in the form of writing blogs, social media posts and emails — or even shooting videos. If your client workload seems a little slow right now, then take advantage of the extra time that you have to work on your own business development + marketing. You’ll be glad that you did when you get extra busy for the rest of the year and don’t have the time.
Here are just a few, simple tasks that you can finally check off of the to-do list:
Get caught up on bookkeeping/finances/collecting payments
Organize your client/project management system
File away old emails
Clean up the files on your computer + run a back-up to an external hard drive or cloud storage platform
Meet with and give any team members you may have updates for what they can expect from you for the rest of the year — just to get everyone on the same page and excited for upcoming tasks
Get your office organized
Stay on top of taxes
3. Join a local organization or attend a networking event — warm days and evenings are the best times to get out into your community and connect with other entrepreneurs and companies face-to-face. Not only can you learn something new from a speaker or training/educational session or workshop, but you can meet new, potential clients (or those who will refer you to someone else they know) — and put your face and business out there to be seen, heard and remembered. Remember to always keep business cards on-hand!
4. Run a giveaway or special promotion — you can market a “one time” or “time sensitive” discount on a current offering or shop item (if you have one) or even create an opportunity for someone to have a “mini session” and work 1:1 with you for a limited time. This allows you to generate some buzz and you can make it fun, by planning your promo or sale around a holiday or major sporting event!
