Your Business–Your Baby
Your small business that you built from the ground up, whether a brick-and-mortar or online business, is more than just a storefront or website…it’s a mindset, a life, it’s your “baby”. You want only the best for your “baby”! Every day you work to nurture and grow your business. You show up, but, with so little time and energy after a long day completing the day-to-day tasks attached to just running your business, there’s little time left to market your business effectively in order to grow your business.
As a business owner, there are many marketing options out there that can help you grow your business. Some are time dependent–they take a lot of time to implement and require you to continually repeat the process such as in using social media. Sure, there are content calendars that aid in scheduling posts, etc. But, the continual posting on social media sites can become exhausting and many times leaves you with no additional business growth.
Grow Your Business by Building Community
Contrary to popular belief, social media marketing doesn’t build community in your small business, which in turn, doesn’t help to grow your business. Yep, you read right! Social media posts are fleeting, hence the reason you must post again and again. If you don’t post often, people forget you exist. Algorithms are another problem in and of itself.
On the surface, marketing is about telling the world about your business in order to make sales and grow your business. But, looking deeper, it becomes evident that marketing is so much more than just gaining customers to make more sales. Marketing is all about building community in your business to promote customer retention thereby increasing customer return rates. In other words, build smarter, not harder! It is so much more cost effective to cater to the return customer than to put your dollars into gaining more and more customers who only visit once.
Determine Your Ideal Customer to Grow Your Business
First things first, you must determine your ideal customer, so you know who to market to and how to market to that person. A simplistic example of this would be if you own a high-end retail clothing shop your “ideal customer” would not be teen girls. Your “ideal customer” would be fashion conscious older females who, in essence, have money to spend on high-end fashion. Therefore, you would include high-end fashions in your marketing plan, not t-shirts. You would showcase marketing that speaks to your customer and sets your business apart from the shop down the street that does sell t-shirts. Your marketing plan would include advertising in places that high-end fashion-conscious customers hang out.
In other words, the community you are building around your business in order to grow your business, should be targeting your “ideal customer”. Think long and hard about this since it can save you many dollars in the long run. Determining your “ideal customer” serves to direct EVERY aspect of your business. Whether you serve your customers in a brick-and-mortar shop, an online shop, or a service business such as consulting/coaching, determining your “ideal customer” is key.
Even before determining your marketing budget, you need to determine your “ideal customer” so you can be mindful of where your “ideal customers” hang out. Referring back to the example I used above, teen buyers obviously don’t hang out in the same places as high-end fashion folks hang out, and vice versa! So why market your business to the wrong customers in the wrong places and waste marketing dollars? Yes, I know, my examples are pretty simplistic, but you get the point!
Free Marketing that Builds Community
Once you determine who your community is, then you can target them using “free” marketing strategies that will grow your business. I know you’ve read posts that suggest building menus around themes. Well, why not build your marketing campaign around themes and events that will grow your business? Use themes that are actionable, consistent, and build interest in your business. It doesn’t matter the type of business you own; repeatable small events will keep your customers coming back resulting in repeat buyers. Positive word-of-mouth will always be one of the best ways to grow your business, by bringing in new customers for your small events.
Small Events that Help Grow Your Business
Obviously, you don’t want to work yourself to death by holding elaborate “events” each and every day of the week. Some events are more appropriate held on a monthly basis, rather than a weekly basis. Consistency is the key–whether held one time a month or one time each week!
Cue your marketing plan! Only you can determine what the right plan is for you, your business, and your ideal customer. You can read this post about other marketing strategies. Need help with this? Grab your copy below of a worksheet helping you to determine your “ideal customer” and join the wait list for my “Grow Your Business Through Small Events” planner email series. The series will help you plan some small events for your business. Some things to keep in mind that are covered in more detail in the upcoming planner are:
- Small events are not used as a “shot-in-the-arm” money marketing strategy.
- This type of marketing event is not a one-time happening.
- Your overall marketing plan to grow your business should only contain what you can manage within your busy business schedule.
- These types of small events must be consistent, customer actionable, and economical.
- Above all, any small event you plan to grow your community must be fun for your growing community of customers.
All the above are covered in detail in my free “Grow Your Business Through Small Events” planner. The planner email series helps you work through a marketing plan that is right for you and your business, whether online or brick-and-mortar. Yes, small events can be used to grow your online business, too!
Types of Small Events
Calendar of small events title suggestions:
Mix It Up Monday
Technique Tuesday
Wacky Wednesday
Thoughtful Thursday
Finish it Friday
Sit n sew/sip/shop Saturday
Sound interesting? Makes me want to find out what the boutique down the street or an online business is doing on a Technique Tuesday or the craft shop is doing on a Thoughtful Thursday. You can plan your own small event step-by-step for your business if you join the wait list for the “Grow Your Business Through Small Events” planner email series. In five days, you will plan and be ready to implement a small event for your business. I walk you through all the important steps to plan a small event specifically for your business model. The series is delivered right in your email box each morning for five days. I outline the steps in manageable “bites”, so you aren’t overwhelmed!
Want to create your own small events marketing plan, tap here to get your copy of the “Grow Your Business Through Small Events” Planner and join our Business Roundtable? Fill out the form and the “Grow Your Business Through Small Events” Planner will be sent directly to your inbox as a PDF. You will also be part of our Business Roundtable. You will receive opportunities for more business “freebies” and insightful business info. As always, you can opt out any time.
