Indispensable Services Small Business Owners Should Utilize to Unlock Their True Potential

 
01/09/2019


Photo by John Schnobrich on Unsplash
 



Running a successful small business — one with growth potential — involves more than simply having a strong product to sell. It’s about customer engagement, smart marketing, making your business operations quick and easy, and so much more. If you feel your business isn’t living up to its full potential or you want to supercharge it, here are some essential services you need to check out.
 
Set up Google alerts for your business
 
As a small business owner, it’s your hope that you will generate a lot of online conversation. Hopefully, most of it is good. Unfortunately, some of it may be bad. You can deal with all types of online chatter about your business in a quicker, more-efficient manner by setting up Google alerts for your business’ name. This free service will notify you whenever your business is being talked about online. If it leads you to some good chatter, you can amplify it. If it leads you to something less desirable, you can address it immediately.
 
As InternetReputation.com notes, you’ll also want to claim your business on any site that offers reviews (Google, Yelp, Zomato, etc.). “This way, you’ll receive direct notifications of new reviews and complaints.”
 
Offer multiple quality online payment services
 
If you’re not using your business website and even your business social media pages to actually sell products and services, you’re missing out. If a potential customer sees something they like on your site, it is still going to take a lot to get them to actually contact you (email, phone, or in-person) to make a purchase. It’s a tough conversion. Make it easier for them to spend money by offering multiple ways to accept payment online — the more the better. You should look into Google Pay, PayPal, WePay, Amazon Payments, Quickbook payments, and more.
 
Run sponsored social media stories
 
This may be shocking, but more people follow brands on social media than they do celebrities — and that’s saying a lot! While traditional online advertising is still useful, social media is king. Conversions from apps like Instagram have grown exponentially in the past few years. To reach more people on social platforms, investing some of your marketing budget into sponsored stories and promoted posts is a no-brainer.
 
And speaking of celebs, there are plenty of benefits of working with social media influencers (popular users with tons of marketing-susceptible followers). By having a user advertise your business, you can generate higher-quality leads, improve your search rankings, and more.
 
Consider small business funding
 
It may be time to consider outside small business funding if you want to spend some cash on innovations, helpful tech products, marketing and the like. Fortunately, you have plenty of lending options, including but not limited to, SBA loans, business lines of credit, invoice financing, and merchant cash advancements. If you have a solid plan and a clear line of sight on how these investments will pay off in the end, a cash injection can be well worth it.
 
Let apps help you with organization
 
What you want to be doing is focusing on connecting with customers and innovating your company. What you’re actually focusing on is administrative tasks, keeping your documents and memos organized, and other things you wish you didn’t have to worry about. Streamline your business operations with apps like Evernote, Trello, and Kanbanflow.
 
Even the smartest and most creative small business owners need a little bit of help to unlock their company’s true potential. Try some of these services and apps to give your business the supercharge it needs this year.


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