Since we can’t all win the lottery and buy an island for the friends we really like, here are some tips that keep you the center of attention and help your business flourish!

Try out these 5 ideas out! You can thank me later!

1. Make your website mobile friendly.

Everyone knows that today’s market operates on mobile devices. 

From an article recently published on techjury, according to stats surrounding mobile traffic, 

“50.48% of traffic is mobile and 46.51% is desktop”.

For most of you, I am not letting you in on a little known trade secret. The trends have been obvious and have been shifting that direction over the past few years. It is very obvious as to where you should focus your efforts. Make sure your website looks good on a mobile device! Hold on… wait for it, now say it with me. “My website should look good on mobile devices!” There, don’t you feel better about yourself?

While the shift is obvious, there are about 4 people in the Western Hemisphere that have not embraced mobile. You know that person, the one that looks like an extra cast member from SNL that used to scream “Back in my day!”! The times have changed, those reluctant people have joined us in this century. Big round of applause! They are trapped indoors, TV sucks so maybe they should try this “interweb” thing! While this change has been uncomfortable for the remaining 4 people, this is the perfect time to make sure your web presence is built for mobile!

2. Increase the amount of content you release.

Many businesses are struggling to find customers during this weakened economy. While many people are scouring Google for leads and business or tools to improve, you can position yourself to be noticed! Here are a few tips to help promote your content. Make sure your information is credible. Just like your days in school, citing other authors or websites with links can help build your search engine relevance. In other words, it is a cornerstone technique for building SEO friendly content.

If you use images from other web sources, make sure it is allowed to be distributed in conjunction with your content, and if it is, make sure to give the author or photographer credit. WordPress has a fields within it’s Media Library to add a caption and description. These fields are perfect for giving a photographer or image designer credit. This also works to building credibility within the online and in the marketplace. Freelancers often provide services for companies and usually create an online portfolio to be noticed and to showcase how they are perfect for the opportunity! Those bright individuals are a part of what us techie folk call the “gig economy”.

As you are starting increasing your conent, focus on improving your  email communication strategy, remember to spread out your messaging. Just like you get sick of mom’s meatloaf every Wednesday,  consumers/viewers will get email fatigue and eventually tune out your messaging.  Keep it fresh! After installing an analytics tool like Google Analytics, you can eventually see a trend as to the best time to send your emails and at what times are most people opening and reading them.

3. Social Media!

Social Media is absolutely the best and most inexpensive way to build a cult following!

Using tools like Facebook, Instagram & Twitter you have the opportunity to reach a larger audience then with blasting emails. Based on an article published in 2019 from Pew Research Center you can evaluate the ages of your target demographic and clearly see that social media is here to stay and just like my belly during this pandemic, it is getting bigger each passing day!

That means more eyes on your content. Instagram has skyrocketed in usage because the communication is visual. People do not need to invest resources in viewing a picture. Either they like it, or they don’t.  

Instagram has a very robust search engine that with the right combination of hash tags you can attract a new customer base to market to!  

4. Build Your Email List.

Building your email list is a great way to communicate to loyal customers. I know, I know, I have spoken a great deal about MailChimp before, but there are good reasons why!  

• It has a built in Web Form generator that can create a sign-up sheet form for your website. 
• Email’s sent from MailChimp can send the same post socially automatically! I use it to send the email to Instagram, Facebook & Twitter
• Finally, it’s FREE for up to 2,000 contacts! 
• Did I mention it was FREE?

Don’t believe me? How can you get something this cool for free, check it out! Don’t believe me, see for yourself! https://mailchimp.com/pricing/

A big reason I believe in MailChimp is because of one of my main talking points to entrepreneurs new and old is establishing consistency! Brand consistency that is! Having a consistent message across your plethora, new word of the day, of social media channels to create a consistent narrative to your customer base.

5. KISS. Keep it simple stupid…

I am sure you have heard of KISS, no it is not swapping saliva with the hottie you had your eye on, it is a method to reduce the size of your message. Once you think you have it down… edit some more! In other words, streamline!

My primary goal in repeating messaging is to help simplify your approach to your marketplace. Once you have your elevator speech, email and social media communicating the same brand value, you then have to simplify! Every Entrepreneur likes to hear themselves talk, and not everyone wants to listen to everything we have to say. Editing is vital when pairing down your message to get to the facts that resonate with consumers. In most cases, less is more! Yes, this is coming from a guy who does not shut up!

If you have a friend or colleague that will give you honest feedback, have them review it.  If you want me to review it, send me an email at sahil@thecitymix.com. I will help.  

6. Push the envelope.

Once you have implemented the changes, statistics is your friend! Install Google Analytics on your website, trach stats like opens and link clicks to see what resonates with your customer. Once you have an established baseline of stats, change the email subject and see how your audience responds.  

Search up different email subjects and see if your audience responds. A resource that I use is from Hubspot, 25 Funny Email Subject Lines and play around with your messaging. Once you find out the type of subject that your audience responds to, use that until your audience stops responding, then search again for a different type of subject line.   

All this effort is to understand who your audience is and how to connect with them. Isn’t the name of the game to get more customers in the door? This is a great way to build a personal connection and riches beyond your wildest dreams!