business growth Archives - Page 9 of 17

Is Your Business Expanding? It Might Time for These Hires!

Are you starting to feel a bit like a one-person band at your small business? Or maybe like a jack-of-all-trades, but master of none? Ok, cliches aside, if you started your small business by yourself, or with just a partner or two, and now it’s taking off, you might be feeling a little overwhelmed with tasks that aren’t really your strong suit, and that you shouldn’t necessarily be putting your time and energy into.

Sure, it’s great to learn how to handle every aspect of your business’ operations, but there comes a time when you need to hire help in order to keep growing, and we’re not just talking about constantly adding salespeople or other employees that are directly relevant to getting your product or service to more customers. We’re talking about building up a support system of employees who can handle some of the behind-the-scenes tasks, and free you up to do what you’re best at: running your business. So what might you need outside help with as your business takes off?

Finances

paperwork with a calculator on top and a pen around a circled sentence. — *An accounting software will not be sufficient enough as your business grows, instead consider hiring a financial professional who can save you money.*

When you’re just starting out, doing your taxes and keeping your books is annoying and tedious, but as your business grows, it can become downright problematic to stay on top of your finances. You’ll end up spending too much of your precious time and energy on these tasks, and you could end up making mistakes that a professional wouldn’t make. And accounting software is great, but the simplified versions you’re likely using probably won’t cut it anymore once you’ve expanded to a certain point, so you’ll need to think about taking on a CPA or a bookkeeper, or both. Finding a trustworthy financial professional will mean you’ll be spending as little time as possible dealing with all of the day-to-day invoicing and bookkeeping that’s plaguing you!

And it’s not just the whole “taking one more thing off your plate” factor that makes a financial professional such a necessary hire: they don’t just know how to do your taxes, they know the best way to do them. For example, as CPA Micah Fraim points out, “When it comes to taxes, non-financial professionals often look at taxes and find ways to ‘save on taxes’. But that mindset isn’t exactly right. Making decisions with tax ramifications as the primary driver is somewhat missing the point, isn’t it? We aren’t in business to save on taxes, we’re in business to make more money.” A professional can help you to look at your taxes and bookkeeping in the most effective way possible.

Payroll/Human Resources

As we mentioned above, if you’re expanding your business, you’re probably also hiring employees that are directly related to your day-to-day operations – and that means all sorts of other issues coming up, like benefits management, payroll, tax forms, background checks, and even the actual hiring and onboarding of your employees, including determining how much to pay them.

You might not need a massive HR department for your small business, but you should consider at least bringing on an HR consultant, who can:

Help with with recruitment (for example, advertising open positions), interviewing, and doing reference checks
Lead employee training sessions and orientations
Inform and enforce compliance regulations, like wage laws and workers comp
Arrange employee benefits, like health insurance, 401k’s, etc

Marketing/PR

Here’s a big one – and maybe a controversial one: should you bring on an external marketing team? Sure, you might think doing it yourself is sufficient, and you’re probably sending out email blasts, doing some posting on social media, and creating banner ads. But there might come a time when you just don’t have the extra hours or know-how to develop a long-term and well analyzed marketing strategy; in this case, you really should consider taking on help in this area. For example, many businesses have multiple team members working on marketing, which could include employees like a:

Campaign strategist, who will tell you where you should (and shouldn’t) be investing your marketing dollars
Marketing representative, who implements the marketing strategy

Social media manager

Analyst, who interprets data to make sure your campaigns are targeted – and working!

Web designer

Copywriter
Content strategist, who develops and deploys content

If you don’t have a ton of resources to spend on a whole marketing team, though, you can also consider bringing on a marketing consultant to pick up some of the work for you, and who can help with things like planning, scheduling, strategy, etc in the following areas:

Social media marketing
Email marketing
Print advertising
Blog content creation
Events

When it comes to press or public relations, this might be a necessary hire for certain types of businesses who really want to increase their standing in their industry. If you just don’t have the connections necessary yet, a PR professional that specializes in your industry can head straight for their contacts list and get your name out to news outlets, trade publications, and conferences.

Legal

When it comes to legal advice, you probably won’t need a full-time attorney on staff (unless you’re in certain industries), but it is vital that you know who to turn to when you need help. This can mean having someone you make appointments with when needed, or even keep on retainer, and who can help you deal with:

Drafting and negotiating contracts

Complaints filed against your business

Employee issues

Figuring out how to structure your business

Negotiating the sale of your business, acquiring a new business, or franchising your business

IT/Tech

If you’re in the tech business, you can probably safely ignore this advice, but if you’re not, you need to think about getting some sort of tech guidance. Ok, maybe you know how to set up your employees’ email accounts, but are you really willing to put your time and energy into managing the centralization of all of your business’ information and data, and would you be able to effectively deal with any tech problems that come up? An pro can help with repairs, but can also help you get ahead of any IT issues by doing things like:

Ensuring all data is backed up
Providing thorough training on devices and software systems
Helping with technology upgrades
Securing your systems to protect you from cybercrime

Now is the time to look for IT help – you certainly don’t want to be doing it after a data breach or hard drive crash!

We get it, your business is your baby – but you know what? It takes a village to raise a child, and it takes a team to grow a business! You’ve done a great job getting your business where it is, but to keep growing you might need to step back and find some outside help, whether it’s through hiring a full-time team or outsourcing certain tasks, so you can focus your energy on taking things to the next level.

What Drives Consumer Behavior?

If you stop and think about it, we all make dozens – maybe hundreds – of decisions each day, right? Little things like what TV show to watch in the evening or which cereal to eat in the morning, big ones like whether we should refinance our mortgage or buy a new car. Whatever they are, they’re constantly playing on our minds and, while some decisions we make might seem random, our choices don’t ultimately come out of nowhere. When it comes to making a decision to buy a certain product, or use a certain business’ services, we are all influenced by multiple factors; having a basic knowledge of these factors, as well as an idea of how marketers decode what’s known as “consumer behavior” can help you better understand why customers will choose you over your competitor – and help you to boost your revenue and grow your business!

What Is Consumer Behavior?

hand with a credit card with a laptop screen open with products on the screen — *Consumer behavior is understanding how and why customers choose products.*

So what do we mean when we talk about “consumer behavior?” Basically, if you’re looking at consumer behavior, you’re studying consumers themselves, and how they choose the products and services that they buy, use, and even get rid of. It’s actually a fairly scientific subject, drawing on psychology, biology, and economics to examine customers’ emotional, mental, and behavioral responses; but don’t worry, you don’t have to have a degree in all of those subjects to get something out of looking at your customers’ motivations! This field of study boils down to things you’ve probably already thought about as a small business owner:

How consumers think and feel about different choices available to them, like brands, products, services, and retailers
What processes consumers use to choose between these different alternatives
The behavior of consumers while they research and shop for products or services
How consumers’ behavior is influenced by outside forces, like their peers or the media
How marketing campaigns can be improved to better influence consumers

Looking at all of these things can help you better understand how customers make their choices, where there are gaps in the market (or when something is obsolete), as well as decide how to best present your product or service to potential customers, so they’ll be more likely to choose your business.

What Influences Consumer Behavior?

So let’s take a closer look at what turns a potential customer into a paying customer – or what makes them say “yes” to your product or service over their other alternatives. Experts who study consumer behavior have broken it down into three factors:

Personal factors – Everyone comes to their decision making with their own very personal set of interests and opinions, which are often influenced by their demographics (age, gender, profession, culture, background, etc).

Psychological factors – Separate from their interests and opinions, there are psychological factors, or perceptions and attitudes, that will influence a customer’s response to a particular marketing campaign. Their comprehension skills, how they perceive their own needs, and their attitude towards the type of product or service will all play a part here.

Social factors – Outside forces will also have a big say in how people make choices and respond to marketing campaigns; this can include friends, family, and social media, as well as your potential customers’ income and education level.

The Main Types of Consumer Behavior

Considering the three factors above can help you to really hone in on who your product or service should be marketed towards, and should get you thinking about what they’re looking for personally, psychologically, and socially. You can further break down your customer base – and figure out how to market to them – by checking out what experts say are the four main types of consumer behavior:

Complex buying behavior – If your business is offering big ticket items that are infrequently purchased or higher-priced, one-off type services, then your customers are engaging in complex buying behavior. This means that they’re going to be really involved in the purchasing process and do a lot of research before they commit, which will influence their beliefs and attitudes about the product or service. You need to be ready with all the necessary, comforting information on your product or service, as well as be able to shape their attitudes and beliefs about it, if you want to beat out your competition.
Dissonance-reducing buying behavior – In this type of buying behavior, customer involvement is also very high, because, again, they might be looking for something that they don’t often buy; but, in this case, the consumer doesn’t have that many options to choose from, and might have trouble distinguishing between the brands or services on offer. They’ll end up settling on one because of price and/or convenience, but they might have some regrets afterwards because they aren’t convinced they had all the information or that the best option was on the table.

If this is the type of buyer you’re encountering, your best bet is to engage in some after-sales campaigns that will convince your customers to stick with you, and hopefully refer you to their friends. illustration of a woman looking at a computer screen with a shopping cart and money between her and the screen.

Habitual buying behavior – When it comes to this type of buying behavior, most consumers have low involvement in the purchasing process, because they’re buying things they use for their daily routine, and that they don’t put a whole lot of thought into. They’re buying out of habit, and they might reach for a familiar brand, whatever’s available in the store at the time, or the lowest-priced option; there’s no research necessary, and often not a whole lot of brand loyalty involved. A great example of this is grocery store shopping: you might have a particular type of bread you usually buy, but that’s because you’re familiar with it and the price is acceptable to you, not because you’ve done extensive research on it or even thought too much about it at all.

If you’ve got a product or service that your customers buy or use frequently, or out of habit, you should make sure to use a more repetitive style of advertising so you can stick in consumers’ minds, as well as try to attract their attention with lots of visual imagery that they can begin to associate with your brand.

Variety seeking buying behavior – Doesn’t it seem like every time you go to the drug store, there’s a new scent of body wash or lotion or other new personal product? Well, that’s because products like that – which are low involvement but offer tons of different options – often appeal to those engaging in variety seeking buying behavior. This means that they switch from brand to brand, company to company – not because they’re dissatisfied, but simply out of a desire for something different. So when companies offer lots of options, they are either trying to build brand loyalty by keeping customers from getting bored with their products, or are trying to lure bored customers away from their habitual purchases.

If you’re in a crowded marketplace, you might want to appeal to customers who want to try something new: offer discounts, coupons, lower prices, free samples – anything that will get you noticed and get people to try you out!

Collecting Information

So now that you’ve got some insight into the field of consumer behavior, you might be wondering how you can gather information to get a better idea of your customers’ motivations. Well, there are lots of ways to connect with them! Try:

Customer reviews – Reading customer reviews is always a great way to gain insight into the common concerns or wishes that your customers have. Don’t forget to check out reviews on your competitors’ sites, as well!

Q&A sites – These websites can give you a feel for what common problems and interests are trending, as well as what questions a lot of people have about your industry.

Surveys – There are websites out there that allow you to quickly create your own surveys, so you can directly ask your customers what they need and want.

Focus groups – You can also ask them the old-fashioned way: in person!

Keyword research – This is a big part of SEO, and is a great way to find out what customers are interested in, how interested they are, and what language they’re using to talk about products and services.

Google Analytics – Using this can help you figure out where your traffic is coming from, so you know a little more about the demographics of your potential customers.

Blog comments – If you’re producing content to get your business noticed, great! Make sure you’re encouraging comments on your blog to help you further determine what questions your base might have.

Social media – Millions of people are out there on social media, reflecting on their lives and what they want and need, so it’s a goldmine when it comes to collecting consumer insights!

How customers find you and choose your product or service can sometimes feel frustratingly random, but maybe it isn’t as random as it seems. Studying consumer behavior shows us that people buy based on certain variables that might be unique to them in some ways, but are also universal in other ways, so influencing potential customers just requires a little understanding of how they tick. Taking some time to think about why people make the choices they do could end up being the way to get a leg up on your competition, and keep your business growing!

The Pareto Principle: How the 80/20 Rule Can Help Your Business

Do you ever feel like you’re trying to do it all, and do you then find yourself questioning whether it’s really worth it to put 100% of your time and energy into every single little thing for your business? Well, you should be questioning it: not only can that intense multitasking mindset lead to burnout, it also doesn’t necessarily yield greater results, in life or in business. If you’re feeling skeptical about that, don’t take our word for it; check out a theory put forward by an Italian economist over 100 years ago, and reintroduced in the 1940s: the Pareto Principle, which you might have heard of as the 80/20 rule. This rule, simply put, states that 80% of effects come from 20% of causes – and, although it’s not a concrete law set in stone, it does seem eerily correct a lot of the time. So what does it mean, and how can you use it to help grow your business?

The History of the 80/20 Rule

peas in a pod — *Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto, creator of the Pareto Principle, noticed that 20% of his pea pods produced 80% of his peas.*

While the term “Pareto Principle” was coined in the 1940s, the principle itself was devised by Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto back in 1906. Legend has it, though, that it wasn’t economic data that got him thinking about the 80/20 rule. As the story goes, Pareto, an avid gardener with an inquisitive mind, noticed that 20% of his pea pods produced 80% of his peas, which got him to thinking: could this be a general rule in the world, and could it be applied to economics?

Pareto looked into it, and it turns out that this rule did apply elsewhere: for example, he found that 80% of the land in Italy was owned by 20% of the population; not only that, but, surprisingly, this was true in most other countries and regions as well, which led him to create the theory of “the vital few and the trivial many.” Fast forward to the 1940s, and Dr. Joseph Juran, a quality management expert, came across Pareto’s theory and tested it to see if he could apply it to QA. When he found that 20% of defects generally cause 80% of problems for most products, he recommended that QA teams focus their energy on the most important 20% of issues, which not only led to better outcomes, but skyrocketed efficiency. And so the Pareto Principle, or the 80/20 rule, was born!

The Surprising Number of Applications

While it’s important to remember that the Pareto Principle is a principle, or a trend, and not a magic trick or an unchangeable universal law, it is almost astonishing how many areas this theory applies to. For example, there are some interesting general applications, like:

80% of the shoes owned by a group of people are individually owned by 20% of those people.
80% of crimes are committed by 20% of the criminals.
20% of the healthcare patients in the United States use 80% of the healthcare resources.
Software engineers spend 80% of their time on 20% of the software’s features.

But there are also many, many ways the Pareto Principle applies to the business world, including:

20% of salespeople make 80% of sales
20% of people at a company earn 80% of the profits
20% of your customers make up 80% of your sales
20% of your sales come from 80% of your products
80% of customer complaints come from 20% of customers
80% of customer complaints are also related to 20% of your products/services
80% of traffic lands on 20% of your website pages
80% of your social sharing comes from 20% of your social updates
20% of the hazards in a workplace cause 80% of the injuries
20% of your time and efforts can produce 80% of your results

How to Apply the Principle to Your Business

black clock on a table — *The 80/20 rule can help raise productivity without multitasking.*

The last point above, that 20% of your time and efforts generally produce 80% of your results, is probably one of the most famous and universally useful findings of the Pareto Principle, and it should be yet another big clue that multitasking just isn’t worth it. In fact, some studies have even shown that multitasking can reduce productivity by as much as 40%!

Focusing on the 80/20 rule will help you stop trying to do everything at once, and remind you to direct your time, energy, and money to the things that produce the highest results with the most efficient use of your resources. In other words, the more you narrow down your efforts to the most important tasks, the better your output will be. As bestselling author Ken Kruse points out, “In my research into the productivity habits of high achievers…[I found that] handling every task that gets thrown their way – or even every task that they would like to handle – is impossible. They use Pareto to help them determine what is of vital importance. Then, they delegate the rest, or simply let it go.”

So, using the general 80/20 rule about time and effort is a powerful way to help you and everyone involved in your business focus on what matters most – but how specifically can you do that? Let’s go back and look at a few of the other applications from above and how you can make them work for you:

80% of your profits come from 20% of your customers – Take a look and see if this holds true for your business. If it does, you’ll need to find ways to hold onto those very important customers, and get more of them. You should also be aware that, according to the Pareto Principle, not only will 80% of your sales come from 20% of your customers, but 20% of your customers are also more likely to spend 4 times more than the other 80%, so it’s very important that you identify these big spenders! To determine who your star 20% is:

- - Identify who has bought recently, who buys the most frequently, and who spends the most
  - Figure out how your core 20% found you – for example, which ads did they convert on and which content did they engage with – and make sure to enhance and promote all of it!
  - Get to know your 20% as best you can, perhaps by performing a demographic study, so you can continue to target them.

80% of your sales come from 20% of your products – Take a look at your sales figures: is this true for you? If so, don’t just rely on these bestsellers to sell themselves while you try to prop up your less popular products; work to enhance, advertise, promote, and push the more popular products so you can really make the most of them. In addition, you might even find that some of the 80% of products or services that aren’t selling as well aren’t worth your time, meaning you could discontinue them and actually end up growing your business in other ways by focusing on the more important things. Again, the Pareto Principle is sometimes about letting go!

80% of traffic lands on 20% of your website pages – The 20% of pages that get the most views are probably your most important pages – the ones that include vital information on your products or services and the purchasing process. Keeping the 80/20 rule in mind, analyze how traffic flows to your website, and optimize your site so that it is as straightforward as possible for viewers to access your critical pages. Doing so will increase sales, as well as allow your business to grow at a faster rate with less traffic.

80% of customer complaints are related to 20% of your products/services – Customer service is one of the key components of your business, right? There’s almost nothing more important than keeping your customers satisfied, so if you can use Pareto to determine which of your products or services are causing the majority of the problems, you have a better chance of solving customer service issues for good. You can also use the 80/20 rule to figure out which of your customer service staff is associated with the most complaints, so you can focus on how your staff needs to change their interactions with customers.

80% of your social sharing comes from 20% of your social updates – Where are all those likes and retweets coming from? Probably from only around 20% of your social media posts, so use a social analytics tracker to find out which are your best-performing updates, then think about what they all have in common so you can replicate that for your other posts!

The above are just a few of the many ways you can apply the Pareto Principle to your business, and see your profits soar as you become more efficient, and learn how to determine which aspects of your business are not performing to their full potential, and how to let go of what’s not so important. Just remember, the 80/20 rule is not a hard-and-fast law, but it is a powerful tool to help you refocus your energies and get the most results from your efforts. That being said, though, more likely than not, you will find it applies in an amazing number of situations, and using it can have a profound impact on reaching your goals.

Extra! Extra! Read All About It! Using an Email Newsletter to Grow Your Business

Whatever type of business you’re running, if you’re trying to get noticed, it probably feels like you’re also in the tech and publishing businesses. You’re creating content, posting on social media, building an engaging website…and, while those are all great ways to help boost your brand, they definitely have their limitations. One way to get around those limitations and bring your connection to your customers (or potential customers) to the next level? Consider creating an email newsletter to stay in touch and keep your customers coming back for more. If you’re thinking it’s too techy or time-consuming, that’s not the case – getting it done yourself is totally doable, and worth it for the business growth that could follow!

Why An Email Newsletter?

So what are the limitations to things like social media and your business’ website that we mentioned above, and how can an email newsletter help you get around them? Well, think of it this way: you don’t own Facebook or Twitter, and you have no control over their algorithms and the reach they’re allowing your business. In other words, you don’t know when and if you’re going to pop up in your followers’ news feeds – so why not build your own audience? In addition, not everyone checks everything on their feeds everyday, while they do generally check their email multiple times a day, so having a direct line to their inbox should get you more attention than if you were just posting on social media.

As for your website, did you know that more than 75% of people visiting it today will never find it again? It’s not your fault – the internet is just a massive place, filled with content! That means you can have the most beautiful website with the most seamless buying experience, but you still have to find a way to get people there and keep them coming back. Email newsletters are a proven way to do this: in fact, one study found that more than 44% of email recipients have made at least one purchase because of an email they received from a business.

To break it down, sending out an email newsletter can achieve the following objectives:

Promoting your product or services

Updating your customers on your business’ latest news

Getting your best content directly to your customers

Building customer loyalty

Generating recurring traffic to your website (or blog)

Sounds good, right? So where do you even start? Well, let’s start at the beginning, and make a plan; from there, you can move on to building up your subscriber list and crafting your actual emails.

Defining Your Objectives

Before you start crafting your first email newsletter, you should make sure you have clear goals and a strategy for it. Take the time to really think it through by asking yourself the following questions:

Who is my target audience? – Think about who you’ll be sending the newsletter to, and what their needs are.

What are the goals of my newsletter? – Are you trying to increase your sales, generate more website traffic, deepen your customer connections, or build up a loyal following for your content?

What am I going to send to my subscribers? This depends on your goals: for example, if you want to increase sales, include promotional deals in your emails. Or, if you’re looking to build up a loyal following, send out exclusive content; you can also keep your customers in the know with updates about your business.

How frequently should I send out my newsletter? – You can choose to send out your newsletter weekly, monthly, or quarterly.

What are my customers getting from my newsletter? – Make sure there is enough value in your newsletter that it doesn’t just end up as more “noise” in your customers’ inboxes.

Building Your Subscriber List

Having a clear strategy and great content won’t mean a thing if you don’t have any subscribers! Fortunately, many customers actually want to hear from you: according to one study, 48% of customers said that they would like to get email updates from their favorite brands. So how do you go about building up a subscriber list? Well, if you’ve got a brick and mortar store, there’s always the old-fashioned way: a piece of paper and a pen, plus a polite request to your customers to leave their email address. But that won’t work for every business – and even if it is feasible for your business, it definitely won’t give you the reach you need. You’ll need to:

Create a compelling email opt-in form for your website – Make sure your form is clear about the value you’re offering with your newsletter, and also make sure that it’s as easy as possible to sign up (only require an email address and maybe a first name, for example).

Place the signup form strategically on your website – Try putting a link in your header or footer; you don’t want to make your signup form too obtrusive, or customers will navigate away from your site too quickly, which will hurt your search engine rankings.

Remind people to sign up for your newsletter in your content – If someone is engaging with your content, they’ll see the value in it and will be more likely to sign up for your newsletter.

Link your sign-up to your social media accounts – You can schedule a recurring Tweet/Facebook post to promote your signup, and can even add a signup form as an extra tab on your Facebook profile.

Use a lead magnet – Use the power of instant gratification by offering your customers a discount code, free exclusive download, content upgrade, entrance into a viral giveaway, etc for signing up.

Picking an Email Marketing Service

If you’re wondering how you’ll actually fire all of your email newsletters out into the world to your subscribers, the answer is: you’ll need an email marketing service to do the heavy lifting for you. These services, many of which offer free trials, allow you to collect email addresses in one place and send out mass emails to them. There are tons to choose from; some of the most popular include:

Constant Contact

Drip

SendinBlue

AWeber

ConvertKit

Each of these services has a different layout and different steps to follow, but all generally include templates for creating attractive newsletters and are fairly intuitive, so you’ll be able to get through the process no matter how tech savvy (or tech-phobic) you are. Just make sure that, whatever template you use, it looks good on a mobile device: according to a 2018 study, 46% of people opened email newsletters on their mobile devices, which is 30% higher than the number of people who opened them on a desktop.

Creating a Welcome Email

the word welcome in a pink heart — *Welcome emails have a higher open rate of 50% than any other email you will send.*

How do you get customers hooked once they’re subscribed? A good way to start is by sending out a compelling welcome email to every subscriber – after all, studies have shown that welcome emails have an average open rate of 50%, which is higher than for any other email you’ll send. You have the option to set this up in your account with your email marketing service, and in this email you should:

Thank your customers for sharing their info with you

Briefly introduce your business

Let them know what to expect from the newsletter, including how often they’ll be receiving it

Include whatever incentive your promised them (if applicable)

Direct them to the most useful content on your website

Crafting Content

There’s lots of technical things to think about when getting your newsletter ready for sending, but don’t forget about the creative part! When crafting your actual newsletter, you’ll want to:

Adapt your design to match your brand identity – Remember to include your logo front and center, and use colors and designs that match those of your website.

Use an “inverted pyramid” writing style – Most people have short attention spans, so when writing your newsletter, you should start with the most important information first.

Have a clear call to action – Make sure your clickable call to action button stands out: use a different color, strategically place it, and include strong action words to encourage readers to click on it, and make sure readers know which button to click to take them where they want to go.

Staying Out of the Spam Zone

When you’re ready to let your email newsletter loose on the world, you’ve still got one more thing to think about: making sure your recipients actually see your emails, and we’re not just talking about getting their attention with your design and content. You’ll have to make sure that your email newsletters stay out of your recipients’ spam folders; after all, spam detection and prevention has gotten much better and more sensitive (90% of emails in 2012 were spam, while that number was reduced to 58% by 2018), so you need to make sure you: white check mark in a light green circle

Use double opt-in – Make sure your customers really want to receive your emails by verifying their email address after they sign up.

Send your emails from a business address

Ditch the misleading subject lines – Avoid anything that could be reported as spam, including phrases like, “Urgent! Action Needed!”, “Thanks for Your Order,” and “You’ve Won a Prize!”

Follow all rules, guidelines, and laws surrounding spam – In order to be considered legit, you’ll need to provide all necessary information in your emails, including your email address, complete physical address, and an unsubscribe link.

So there you have it: with a little thought and a lot of help from some excellent, readily available technology, you can create email newsletters that will increase the reach of your business and get you on the road to some serious growth! Just don’t forget to perform an analysis to see which parts of your newsletter received the most clicks, and which contributed most to your goals, so you can get the most reward for your effort.

Urgent Vs. Important: How the Eisenhower Matrix Can Keep You Focused on Your Goals

Dwight D. “Ike” Eisenhower got stuff done. He was a five-star general in World War II, the 34th President of the United States, the president of Columbia University, and the first Supreme Commander of NATO. During his two terms as U.S. President, he got NASA off the ground, began construction on the Interstate Highway System, signed a major piece of Civil Rights legislation into law, ended the Korean War, AND oversaw the introduction of two new states into the Union (Alaska and Hawaii).

Not bad, Ike, not bad. So what was his secret? Well, you can actually boil it down to the difference between two words that often come up in our work life, words which might seem very similar: “urgent” and “important.” This distinction can make the difference between being simply efficient or busy, and being effective in your business life. And all it takes is organizing your tasks into four different categories, using a method known as The Eisenhower Matrix, and you could be one step closer to reaching your goals, and keeping your business growing!

Do You Need a Way to Prioritize?

clock with silhouette of a person sitting at a desk in front of a computer inside of it — *If you are very busy, but have a hard time pointing to the impact of your work, then you need a better way to prioritize.*

Before we get into the nuts and bolts of the Eisenhower Matrix, let’s take a quick quiz. Answer honestly! As a small business owner:

Do you feel like you’re constantly putting out fires? In other words, are you running around all day making sure those little “emergencies” are tended to – and then before you know it, your day is done?
Would you describe yourself as “very busy,” but, at the same time, do you have a hard time pointing to the impact that your work is having in the long run?
Are you having a hard time delegating tasks?
Do you have clear long-term goals for your business laid out, but you just can’t find the time (or the energy) to work towards them?
When you’re looking at things that need to get done, do you find yourself gravitating towards the tasks that are more time-sensitive as opposed to those that would have a long-term reward?

If you answered “yes” to some or all of these questions, prioritization might be a big problem that’s holding you (and your business) back. And you’re not alone! In fact, a recent study in the Journal of Consumer Research found that people are much more likely to give their attention to time-sensitive tasks over tasks that are less urgent even when the less urgent task offers greater rewards, a phenomenon they call the “Mere-Urgency Effect.”

You need to break out of this mindset, and become less “busy” and more focused on what’s really important. Being efficient is great, and checking off your to-do list can feel good in the moment (annoying as the tasks might be), but sometimes you’ve just got to ask yourself: “Do I actually need to be doing this?” It is arguably a harsh point of view, but entrepreneur Tim Ferriss even went so far as to say, “Being busy is a form of laziness – lazy thinking and indiscriminate action.” Even if you don’t agree, you can still use the Eisenhower Matrix to figure out what to “delete” from your day.

The History of the Eisenhower Matrix

president Eisenhower on a stamp — *President Eisenhower created a method to focus on which tasks he should focus on each day.*

Eisenhower, productive as he was, knew that reaching your goals isn’t just about getting stuff done; after all, you can check off everything on a daily to-do list and still not be any closer to a big life goal. To really make a difference (whether it’s in the political world or the business world), you have to stop wasting time and prioritize tasks more effectively, so you can focus on what’s most important.

And the first step to focusing on what’s important, according to the former president, is understanding the difference between urgency and importance, because they are not the same thing: Eisenhower even famously quoted a university president who said, “I have two kinds of problems, the urgent and the important. The urgent are not important, and the important are never urgent.” But he knew that we are all very easily sidetracked by the urgent: as he said in a 1954 address, “Especially whenever our affairs seem to be in crisis, we are almost compelled to give our first attention to the urgent present rather than to the important future.”

So, to try to rebalance his attention, Eisenhower created a method for making tough decisions about which of the many tasks he should focus on each day. This method is now called the Eisenhower Matrix (or the Time Management Matrix, the Eisenhower Box, the Eisenhower Method, or the Urgent-Important Matrix). Using this method of time management and prioritization will help you to focus on tasks that are actually important in the long run.

The Urgent Vs. The Important

The Eisenhower Matrix is actually fairly simple in theory. This method of prioritization just requires you to place tasks into four quadrants, which will determine how urgent they are versus how important they are. Making that determination can seem a little tricky sometimes, we know, but try following Steven Covey’s, author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, definitions of the two terms:

Urgent: These are tasks that “require immediate action.” There are often consequences to not completing them on time or as they pop up. Getting too stuck on urgent, “putting out fires”-type of tasks can sap your energy and lead to burnout.

Important: Things that are important “contribute to long-term goals and life values.” They require “planning and thoughtful action,” as opposed to being mindless like urgent tasks can sometimes be. These tasks also actually tend to focus you, instead of keeping you feeling scattered and pulled in different directions.

Step into the Matrix

Now that we’ve made those distinctions, let’s get to making the matrix. As we said earlier, you’ll need to separate your activities into four quadrants, which represent priority levels:

Urgent and Important

Not Urgent and Important

Urgent and Unimportant

Not Urgent and Unimportant

You can make your own Matrix (or download a template): draw a square and divide it into four squares; starting with the top left quadrant and moving clockwise, create four categories:

Do – In this box will be your urgent/important tasks. These things generally need to be done immediately and include things you would classify as crises, deadlines and any urgent problems that come up. They require a lot of energy and attention, and might have some dread factor to them, so get them done first. If you’re having trouble getting through these tasks, try using the Pomodoro Technique to keep you focused.
Decide – Next to your “do” tasks will be your not urgent/important tasks. These are known as your “decide” tasks because you have more leisure to decide when they should be completed, although that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t set a realistic timeline to complete them. You can also think of this space as the quadrant for your longer-term goals, so this area should definitely be your top priority, especially since these are the tasks that leave you feeling fulfilled, instead of burnt out.

As you become more efficient at managing your time, and are better able to delete unimportant things and plan for the urgent tasks that come up, hopefully most of your tasks will end up here! In fact, if you’re using this method, you want to try and rebalance your time so that you’re spending most of it in this quadrant, which Steven Covey calls “the quadrant of quality.” Time spent on these tasks will increase your overall effectiveness, because you’ll be working toward personal and professional growth.

Delegate – Underneath your “do” quadrant is your “delegate” quadrant, reserved for the tasks that are urgent/unimportant. These tasks are usually more important to other people than to you, but they’re still pretty urgent, and need to get done. So you know what? This is where good old fashioned teamwork comes into play! If you have employees, acknowledge that one of them might be better suited to the task, and thus free yourself up for using more of your time and energy on your “decide” tasks. Just remember to keep track of delegated tasks, and if you don’t have a lot of extra manpower, consider outsourcing some of these things.

Delete – Ah, now we’ve come to the not urgent/unimportant tasks – you know, the things that should be on your “not-to-do” list. This can include avoidance tasks, such as sorting and organizing your email instead of answering it, or even downtime activities that drain your energy and creativity instead of enhancing it (think scrolling endlessly as opposed to exercising, reading or volunteering). If you find yourself stuck in this quadrant, you might be stressed, stuck in a rut, or avoiding a problem, so try to steer yourself back to your “decide” quadrant and rediscover your passion!

If you’re looking for a useful decision-making tool to boost your productivity and effectiveness as the leader of a small business, the Eisenhower Matrix could work to keep you balanced and focused. Give it a try! At the very least, you might find yourself eliminating behaviors that take up your time, your mental energy, and don’t move you any closer to your goals.

Why Some Entrepreneurs Choose Not to Grow, and When YOU Should Slow Things Down

Some small business owners eat, sleep, and dream growth. Others, well, they’re happy to keep things as they are, or are content to slow things down when they need to. Where do you fall on that spectrum? Do you panic when you hear the phrase “slow down”? Do you scratch your head and wonder why any small business owner wouldn’t strive for the same frantic pace as you? If so, it’s worth taking a look at why some entrepreneurs choose not to grow, as well as to think about the times when you might need to take a step back and slow down, so you can decide whether continual growth is actually right for your business (and for you).

The Decision Not to Grow

illustration of a man holding a long paper with the word bill on it — *Some business owners choose not to grow to avoid larger financial responsibility.*

Small businesses are the backbone of our economy, generating around 50% of GDP in the U.S., as well as creating jobs and sparking innovation. That’s a lot of work for you entrepreneurs to shoulder! There can also be constant pressure to grow, whether it’s right for you and your business at that time or not. But while some business owners decide that they need to continually grow their business to stay competitive, others make a conscious decision to put the brakes on. Why?

To avoid risky business – As your business grows, so do your financial obligations. For example, you might need to hire more employees (or do some outsourcing), buy new equipment, or find a bigger space, and you might find that you can’t increase your revenue enough to keep up with these increased financial demands. In addition, if you’re selling a product, you’ll have to tie up more of your cash in inventory, and you’ll have to work hard to increase sales numbers to keep up your cash flow. Expanding into new markets or locations, or launching a new product or service, also carries a lot of risk, especially for small businesses that won’t be able to absorb the cost of failed ventures like a larger business would be able to.

To stay true to their standards – One of the great things about being a small business owner is that you can really focus on what matters: product or service quality and customer service. In fact, that’s often what sets you apart from all the big businesses out there! If you shift your focus to growth and then need to fulfill more orders or deal with more and more customers, your business could end up getting stretched thin, meaning you run the risk of alienating customers who come to you looking for that “small business touch.” The negative reviews you end up with could very well be counterproductive, and all your efforts at growth might go to waste.

To maintain their lifestyle – Growing your business will not only mean risking your hard-earned assets, but it will also mean changing your lifestyle. You might have to work longer hours and make a bigger commitment to your business – not to mention that you could end up stressed out (and therefore more likely to make decisions on an emotional basis rather than on a well thought out and strategic basis). Before you decide to make big changes toward growth, consider your work//family/life balance and make sure it’s the right time for you.

To retain control – Every small business owner has a different way of running their business: some are happy to delegate a larger proportion of day-to-day operations to employees, while others really prefer to retain control of most decision making. What are your feelings on handing over the reins to others, at least partially? If you grow your business, you’ll most likely have to give up some control, so if you would prefer to retain control over most aspects of your business or are not interested in becoming a delegator-in-chief, you might want to hold off on any rapid growth.

While these are all valid reasons to keep things as they are, we’re definitely not saying you shouldn’t be shooting for growth, but you should always consider the above before you make any big changes. That being said, there are times when you definitely should stop and take stock before you move forward with any growth plans.

Should You Slow Down?

Well-known entrepreneur and venture capitalist Paul Graham once famously said, “The only essential thing is growth.” Well, we’ve seen now that not everyone agrees – but even if you do, and you don’t think that the above reasons are compelling ones for periods of slower growth, you should still slow down from time to time long enough to set your goals and figure out how to reach them. So, regardless of your long-term growth goals, when should your business actually slow down?

When you’re hiring employees – If you’re looking to fill a vacant position, especially one that is essential to your daily operations, you might be tempted to speed through the process so you can go back to focusing on your growth goals. Don’t! There’s nothing more counterproductive than hiring too quickly – you run the risk of ending up with a less than ideal employee, and you’ll have lost a lot of time and money in the process.

When you’re trying to acquire new customers – Growth and acquiring new customers go hand-in-hand, right? Sure, but if you’re not acquiring the right customers, your growth could end up being a bubble that bursts pretty quickly. For example, if you’re just firing out promotions that attract one-time customers, you should slow down and rethink your marketing strategy. You need to come up with ways to attract customers who need your product or services, who will keep coming back for more, and who will tell their friends and family about you.

When you’re putting out a new product – Do you have a great new product that you just have to get to market before your competitors? We understand the temptation to rush, but this is another time that you should take a step back. If you’ve built a following based on the quality of your products, the last thing you want to do is put out a product that isn’t quite ready and might have problems that you haven’t had a chance to work out yet. Don’t risk your reputation, slow down and get it right the first time!

When you need a change – If your business is stuck in a rut, but you want to grow, you might need to regroup. You might need to reach out to new markets, come up with new products or services, or pitch new ideas to clients or investors – and that means taking time to learn and experiment. It also means writing up new business plans or growth goals, so you’ll have to refocus your energy on doing that.

When everyone needs to recharge – Growing your business can be exhausting! For you and for your employees, so remember to slow down and take stock every now and then. Check in with your employees and see how morale is, and make sure you’re recognizing them for the hard work they’re putting in. Make sure also that they’ve still got sight of your business’ mission, and that you do, too. Take this time to slow down and ask yourself things like: Have I reached my old goals? Is it time to set new ones? Recharging your growth battery is never a bad idea!

Launching a growth strategy is never something you should do simply because, well, you think you should be doing it. Make sure you can cover the costs, handle the impact on your lifestyle, and maintain the standards that your small business is known for. But if you’re ready, go for it! Just remember to slow down when you need to, so you can get right back to your growth goals.

Tag: business growth