Every business owner wants to find the right way to grow their business and sustain that growth. But, with so many strategies out there, which one do you choose? You can try social media channels like TikTok, but will that work? You could also use paid marketing to generate leads, but are they good quality leads? All these questions can make growing a business feel really overwhelming. Luckily there are strategies that have been working for business owners that you can apply to get more clients and customers and earn more money. Here are a few.
Database marketing is the bread and butter of industries like real estate. The people you’ve already worked with are the best people to get more repeat and referral business from. That's why agents put a lot of effort into taking care of their databases. One of the ways they do it is through high-quality direct mail pieces sent to the homes of their contacts every single month.
Why limit this strategy to real estate? If you run a local business, direct mail is a great way to stay top of mind. What do you need to achieve this? Besides the good content or copy, you need to partner up with a company that can do really polished and professional prints. Postcards or magazines are a good start. Companies like Rex Three Printing create prints that don’t just look good, they function as a solid piece of marketing that can actually help you drive leads to your business.
Podcasts are a growing channel. Even though it feels everyone and their third cousin has one, according to the statistics, there’s still so much room for growth. Thereby, offering an opportunity to make a podcast a growth channel for your business. A podcast works for a ton of reasons. It allows you to build your credibility and establish yourself as a voice worth listening to in your space. Most people think a successful podcast has to have a million downloads to succeed. But, honestly, businesses that get even 5000 downloads are able to drive it to their businesses. Through a podcast, you can build strong relationships with your guests, have a chance to talk about your business, and tangentially sell products. You can even create another stream of income through sponsorships. If you’re looking for a growth strategy, consider starting your own unique podcast. You’ll be pleasantly surprised by the results.
It has been said that a book is a more effective business card and credibility builder. When you say what your business does, imagine how effective it would be to say that you wrote a book about it? Nowadays, writing and publishing a book is quite easy if you go the Amazon self-publishing route. You can do everything yourself and use Amazon as the channel to sell the book. Just like podcasting, you don’t have to sell hundreds and thousands of copies. You just need to have a book that you can send some people to. This can really establish yourself as an expert in your space.
One of the smartest investments you can ever make in your business is your email list. When social media algorithms shift (and they do frequently), the last thing you want is to struggle to reach your audience all of a sudden. An email list is something you have more of a direct connection with. Therefore, growing it should always be part of your marketing efforts. If you want to grow your email list, you have to give them something of value. This is where an opt-in comes into play.
Put very simply: an opt-in is a valuable piece of content or communication you give someone in exchange for their email address. You can offer different things depending on what your audience responds to and what you sell. Your opt-in can be a free 30-minute call, a free webinar, a valuable PDF download, or even the templates you use in your business. Once you have an email list, it’s easier to sell your products, launch products, and get the input of the people who are actually fans and buyers. But, it’s important that you actually craft good content for them. That list of email addresses is actually golden, so never overlook or neglect it.
You could go down into so many rabbit holes trying to grow your business, but don't complicate it. There are tried and tested methods that successful business owners are using and getting ROI from. Any one of these will give your business the boost it needs this year.
