When I was 20, I stumbled into business web design and my life changed forever. That website, which was built in 2004 taught me the foundations for all of the results I would create for the next 18 years.
I never went to college, and I still don’t know any coding languages. **Ironically, colleges still aren’t teaching simple and effective digital economics, which is part of the reason I write my articles and books the way I do.
Most of us were educated to operate in an economy that no longer exists.
There I was 20 years old brokering six-figure international shipments, all because I helped my employer access the power of the internet.
A lot has changed since then but in a lot of ways, nothing has. In today’s data-driven world, marketing is more precise and accountable to performance than ever before.
Competent use of a few simple technologies like social media content marketing can grow a business faster than anything the world has ever seen. (literally) While there are several proven ways to grow a business using the power of marketing technology, it can be just as easy to get lost in the noise and “advice” out there.
Let's Start By Knowing What Warning Signs To Look Out For
Sometimes it helps to talk first about the common reasons why a business wouldn’t grow. Many business owners are hard-working specialists in their trade or specific area of expertise and from the place, it can be easy for technology to outstrip an expert's ability to keep up, or even properly staff a team. This means they often struggle with things like staffing, marketing, and other functions outside of their trade. If you are reading this and this story sounds familiar this is for you. By exposing these three ideas today, you will get a lot closer to understanding the repeatable recipe my team and I use on a daily basis to drive small business growth.
After working with many honest, hard-working small businesses and leaders, I noticed there were several common reasons that a well-meaning marketing project would fail.
Lack of Traffic To Website - Ironically this is one of the easiest problems to solve in this day and age. That doesn’t mean traffic is free, but when your business pages and digital assets are built correctly, they can drive business 24/7. Digital traffic strategies can drive warm leads and customers to every type of business, with very few exceptions.
Inefficient Delivery Of Product / Service - There is no point in scaling what isn’t already working. Most businesses that I work with already have a valuable product/service, so preparing for growth is a necessary part of the equation. Content and technology can also massively help here by automating communications, team training, and repetitive parts of any business process. A simple example is an educational marketing campaign that ensures your prospects and leads are pre-informed before they buy, resulting in fewer returns and customer service questions.
Inability to Develop a Team - This is one of the most important components of any project. It takes a team to build a dynamic and profitable business. Your partners, your staff, and your vendors are all closely linked to how successful your new project will be. Someone who understands team dynamics is a necessary ingredient in the success equation.
The takeaway from this article is: strategic growth is key.
Thinking about business growth plans can be exciting, and if you plan carefully, it can be just as rewarding.
When clients work with my team, we always tell them to anticipate a 5-20% growth possibility with whatever key product/service that we start with.
This concludes part one of this two-part series. In the next article, we discuss the key elements that are responsible for holding a successful and profitable campaign together. Most businesses miss this step and disaster usually results.