Slow and Steady Wins at Business Longevity
Why Shortcuts to Success Rarely Work for the Average Business Owner
Hand a briefcase and a business plan to Tortoise and Hare, and you know what happens next…
Slow and steady wins at business longevity.
It’s not sexy, but it’s true.
And that’s why I find that I’m often suggesting to clients “phases of work,” instead of “big, complete overhauls.” If you improve one small thing at a time, over time, you’ll realize you achieved that big overhaul you were looking for, but with less stress and less expense.
Shortcuts to success rarely work for the average business owner.
Let’s say you want to hit 10k for that sexy Instagram Stories swipe up. You buy followers.
But these followers are bots, or uninterested in what you sell. So, now you have 10k followers and little to no actual engagement, which leads to limited visibility of your posts, which requires a whole new strategy for combatting that low engagement in addition to trying to attract people who will swipe up and buy.
Or let’s say you’re starting a new company. You dive headfirst into a logo design project before you’ve even seen a sale or proven your concept.
You’re banking on visuals attracting business when you should be courting paying clients and demonstrating that your services are valuable. Now you have a logo for a business that hasn’t made money yet and hasn’t truly found its identity. Gonna need a rebrand sooner than you think.
Oof and I know some folks who choose to create custom coded websites right off the bat.
They might look fancy, but the business owner doesn’t have access to make small adjustments to copy, imagery or pricing. Especially in the early stages, you’re going to change your business model and your mind and your prices more frequently. That means you need access to something easy-to-use to make updates quickly!
What are some small things you can adjust and improve that can create a ripple effect, positively impacting your longterm business goals?
None of these should require intense effort or expensive outsourcing:
- Make sure your site is easy to read/navigate on mobile. Literally visit your website from your phone. Take notes and then make small changes to spacing and text to make it easier to read, click and scan.
- Add page titles and descriptions in the SEO section of your website. Most build-your-own websites have help articles on how to fill this in.
- Name your clients with greater clarity in your copy. Rather than “corporate employees,” say that you serve “mid-career employees looking to shake-up their careers;” rather than “creatives” say “artists, musicians, photographers and designers.”
- Add a personalized welcome email automation to new subscribers. I have a template for this — if you want it hit reply and let me know!
- Automate your schedule. Use an appointment scheduler like Calendly or Acuity to make it easier for people to find time with you.
- Turn on time limits on social media apps. Use your time more wisely when on social, because you’re limiting your ability to scroll mindlessly.
- Schedule time to answer DMs each day. Direct messaging can be the start of a sales conversation. Make room for responding to messages once a weekday.
- Schedule seasonal gifts to your best clients. Add some joy into your calendar by choosing and mailing thoughtful surprises to your client list.
- Segment your email list. Find one way to tag or categorize your email list that would be helpful for personalizing messaging in the future. For example, tag clients in their own category. Next time you launch or offer a new service, you can email them about it separately and ask for referrals.
It really is the little things. Little things that make a difference. Little things that show you care. Little things that add up to a beautiful resilient biz.
Are you bringing your personal values and stories into your marketing?
You should!
That’s why we created 5 creative prompts for coaches, creatives & consultants to write, produce and share compelling stories in your emails, on social and more. These are the stories that make you stand out in a crowd.
Amy Jacobus is an online marketing strategist who still sends handwritten thank yous. She’s obsessed with helping service providers, entrepreneurs and mission-based business owners increase their impact with smart, human marketing online. Amy teaches workshops and leads programs full of simple, apply-it-now strategies for your website, email and social media, including her signature program, Confident + Consistent Marketing. She has designed courses, facilitated workshops and participated in panel discussions for University of Denver, LEAP at St. Mary’s College, Barnard College, New York Foundation for the Arts, Gibney Dance, The Artist Co-op and Pentacle, among others. Learn more about Amy and her work at amyjacobus.marketing and follow her at @amyjacobus on Instagram.
This article was originally published on her blog, where she shares weekly marketing advice for creatives and entrepreneurs.
