As summer is almost at its end and we can already smell that pumpkin spice approaching, it is time to snap out of our vacation mode and dive back into productivity. It surely is difficult, but it must be done as the clock is ticking. It is your job now to make some improvements in your business before the public starts visiting your website after their summer break. So, let’s see what can be done.
Keep appearances
In order to attract a new crowd this season, you should try and make your website, especially your homepage, as fun and inviting as possible. Be the first to prepare for the fall by redesigning your UI. It is not exactly cheap, but spending an extra buck on this will definitely be worth it. There are some great options for web design in Houston, and many of them have good ratings. You just need to find something that suits the mentality of your business and your own taste as an entrepreneur. Your homepage is the first sight that your current or future customers see. Therefore, your goal should be to amaze them to further explore your website, make a purchase, and decide to stick with your business. A perfect webpage is not omnipotent as it cannot do all the above, but it can give you the full potential by attracting everyone. The rest is up to your own business, what it offers, and how good your service may be. Either way, your first step would have been completed by crossing this of your to-do list.
Keep content short and sweet
Nobody likes a drag, especially in this day and age. We have more and more work and less time every day. Our obligations keep piling up and jumping out of nowhere while we struggle to maintain the little social life that we have. This is one of the main reasons people do not want to spend their time reading tiring lines on a website where they wish to buy a product or a service. The golden rule is not to have excessive text or at least keep it to the very minimum. Trust us, you do not need to oversell your business, if it is good enough, it will sell itself. Invest in quality and customer service, but do not invest in pointless words that will only bore people until they decide to leave forever and choose a business from the same domain with much less tiring texts and simpler instructions and UX. This is a bit tedious to do, but the good thing is that it is absolutely free, or at least it only costs some of your time, but you also need to be very thorough about it and go about all the texts you have on any platform, app or any online presence.
Keep your customers happy
In the sea of technology and AI, try not to forget the human touch and its importance. People still love human contact and an approach that is a bit different from the everyday generic one most businesses have nowadays. Make an effort to go the extra mile when it comes to your customers. Send birthday gift cards or discounts, give personal recommendations based on previous purchases, and send a personalized thank you email to loyal customers with a discount as a reward. It is not much, but it could set aside your business from all others. Do not underestimate the significance of old customers. Yes, it is important to acquire new ones, but old customers are the pillars of your business. Without them, you are nothing. They are your steady income and your biggest and most important marketing department. Happy loyal customers will tell everyone about your business and, apart from maintaining your financials with their loyalty, they even bring in new customers, so their existence is invaluable.
Stay in the loop
Regardless of how innovative and creative you may be, keeping up with reality is a must. A serious entrepreneur always knows the state of their industry of interest. So, in order to stay informed, you should repeat the same routine from time to time. That means choosing the top five or ten businesses in your field, exploring all there is to be known about them, and making notes. It may seem silly, but it is such important work, that you would be amazed. It does take some time, but the upside is that it does not cost money. It can be done by you and you alone. You just need a rating system and a Google sheet or a notebook if you are more old-school. List the top businesses and give them the most objective criticism you can think of. Write down the pros and cons, analyze your results, and let it be your inspiration for future work. This will help you keep up and it will also be a great source of ideas when it’s time to alter those monthly and yearly business plans.
Utilize business tools
Do not be afraid of new things, especially in technology. Being old-school about some things is fine as long as that does not keep you from making progress. Business tools have been present for a while, and their usefulness is almost undeniable now. There is no use in resisting them when you can embrace them with all their features that are there to make your life easier, as well as the lives of your employees. You should not completely trust apps adn tools to do the work for you, but if you learn to use them, they can help you immensely in your daily business routine.
In the end, don’t forget to take some time to get inspired. Listen to music, take walks in nature, watch unconventional movies, and read books. Socialize, dance, travel. Try new food and new hobbies. Life is all about new experiences. Nobody thrives in their comfort zone doing the same thing they do every day. Do not forget to be human. Living your life inspires new ideas for improvement in business. Everything is connected.