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Solo's blog provides the resources that microbusinesses, solopreneurs, freelancers, and other super-small businesses need to start, operate, and grow.

Blog for starting, running, and growing your business | Solo.co

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If you run a local business, you may view marketing as a problematic, nebulous, expensive, “necessary evil.”\nOr you may not see the need for a marketing plan at all, relying instead on “word of mouth” or foot traffic to bring customers to your business. (More on that later.)\nRegardless of your views, it’s a good bet that if you’re reading this article, you want to know the best ways to stretch your marketing dollar. Well, you’re in the right place.\nHow much should a small business spend on marketing?\nFirst of all, let’s clarify just how big that small business marketing dollar should be. \nMost experts' recommendation is that small businesses spend 7-8% of gross revenue on marketing, which corresponds to guidance from the U.S. Small Business Administration. \nThat may sound like a lot, but consider that larger businesses on average spend about 13% of their gross revenue on marketing, and a study by Duke University and Deloitte found that many businesses spend up to 50%! Yikes.\nIf this all sounds overwhelming, don’t worry. While you really should have a marketing budget, small businesses don’t have to spend nearly as much as big companies, and spending more doesn’t necessarily produce better results. \nIf you’re careful and smart, even a modest marketing budget will produce significant returns. (You can even see substantial improvements without spending ANY money! Keep reading for the secret.)\nOwn your online presence and you will attract more customers\nSome of the most effective small business marketing tools are not only affordable, they’re positively cheap. How cheap are we talking? Well, how does FREE strike you?\nBut before you spend ANY money on advertising, you first need to optimize your online presence—your business’s digital reputation—and all this costs you is your time. If you don’t start here, any advertising dollars you spend will just send your potential customers to someone else.\nWhy? Because, although “word of mouth” is still the #1 way customers find local businesses, that conversation has now moved online to review sites like Yelp, Facebook, Google My Business, and TripAdvisor. And 88% of consumers trust recommendations from these sites as much as personal recommendations from friends or family!\nSo, imagine you spend $1,000 per month on advertising but you haven’t first claimed your business profile on all the popular review sites and taken control of your online presence.\nWhat’s the first thing people do when they hear of a local business they’re interested in patronizing? You guessed it… they search online for reviews, location, hours of operation, etc. \nSo if you start spending advertising money without first optimizing your online presence, you’re promoting a business that either (a) people can’t research online because you don’t have a solid digital footprint, or (b) has a poor review rating and/or inaccurate information on these critical sites. In either case, you’re wasting your money.\n\n84% of consumers search online for local businesses. Make sure your business’s digital footprint is ready!\nSo start by claiming your business’s profiles on all the top review sites and start responding (politely) to all reviews. Responding to reviews shows you take customer feedback seriously and are committed to providing a top-quality experience. Plus, research shows that businesses that claim their listings on multiple online business reviews sites make 58% more money!\nPro tip: we’ve written helpful articles about \nhow to claim your business listing on TripAdvisor\n, \nhow to claim your business on Yelp\n, \nhow to claim your Google My Business listing\n, and how to respond to \nonline reviews\n.\nBiggest bang for your small business marketing buck? Email marketing\nOnce you’ve taken the vital step of claiming your business profile on all relevant review sites and have started to engage your customers by responding to reviews, you’re ready to start marketing to current and potential customers to drive new and repeat business.\nAs we’ve written previously, \nemail marketing\n is hands-down the most powerful, effective, and efficient small business marketing tool. 86% of customers actually want promotional emails from businesses they patronize.\nHow good is the return on investment (ROI) for email marketing? Somewhere between 36:1 and 44:1, depending on whom you ask. That means that for every $1 spent on email marketing, it brings in between $36 and $44. There is simply nothing else in the marketing toolbag that has anywhere close to that ROI.\nWith all the buzz about Instagram this, Facebook that, and Google the other, the concept of email marketing might seem positively archaic. But there are several advantages to email marketing that aren’t shared by its younger social-media cousins:\nEmail isn’t limited to one platform. Social networks come and go, and are dependent upon one company. Email, on the other hand, can be accessed and used via any one of thousands of email clients.\nEmail is nearly universal and dwarfs the largest social media companies. Facebook boasts 2.2 billion users, and over 500 million tweets are sent on Twitter per day. That sounds impressive until you learn that there are over 3.8 billion email users. Want to take a guess at how many emails are sent per day? \n281 billion.\nGetting started in email marketing\nTo get the full monty on the tips and how-tos for getting started, be sure to read our detailed post on \nemail marketing\n, but the TL;DR version is 1. Be consistent, and schedule time to compose an email weekly; 2. Provide real value and focus on the story, not the click; 3. Triple-check your formatting, links, and layout to make sure everything works (and find a good proofreader); and 4. Don’t send generic, bulk emails and consider automating the process. \nIf this all seems like too much, commit to this one vital practice: send a thank you email after a customer purchases at your store. The value of this practice can not be underestimated. \nSources:\n
\nhttps://deloitte.wsj.com/cmo/2017/01/24/who-has-the-biggest-marketing-budgets/\n
\nhttps://searchengineland.com/88-consumers-trust-online-reviews-much-personal-recommendations-195803\n

Small business marketing: What’s the biggest bang for your buck?

In this article:\nDIY websites for small businesses\nWordPress\nSquarespace\nWix\nShopify\nSmartly Done Websites\nYour website should be an online extension of your business, so you don’t want to skimp out and you definitely want it to look professional. But sometimes you just need something to get you started that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg. \nWe’ve seen tons of small business websites all across the board, from highly custom sites that cost thousands of dollars to free websites built by some of our customers themselves. There are solid website options for any budget that you are looking to start with, and we’ll outline some of our favorite DIY budget websites for small businesses here. \nWordPress.org\nWordPress.org (\ndifferent from WordPress.com\n) can be a great website builder to start with. And we might be a little biased because we use WordPress, but it has some great capabilities for any business! \nFrom a DIY standpoint, if all you need is to add information about your company in the form of pages and blog posts, WordPress can really take you far. \nThe cost of using WordPress is super manageable. All you need to pay to get your website up and running for the world to see is web hosting (at $7.99 per month) and for a domain name (at $14 per year). If you want a premium theme that someone designed, there may be additional costs associated there as well, but beyond that, you’re looking at a pretty good deal.\nEven better, if you choose to pay for your WordPress site through BlueHost, you can get your domain name for free and only pay $3.95 per month for web hosting. That’s a steal!\nPart of the advantage of using WordPress for your website is that it’s an open source platform where anyone can create modifications for others to use. This means that developers al over have created plugins and themes that can help you to modify your website to your specifications. \nGet started at \nWordPress.org\n. \nA note of caution: Not all WordPress plugins play friendly together, especially as new updates come out for your WordPress software. Sometimes plugins that aren’t compatible can cause weird design effects or security vulnerabilities on your website. But that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t use it, just that you should do your research to maintain your site well or consult a developer when adding multiple plugins to your website. \nSquarespace\nSquarespace is a really powerful all-in-one website manager for those of you who want to build your own website and do it for a relatively low cost. \nThey have tons of unique templates to choose from with customization options to really make your site stand out from your competitors. \nSquarespace has four basic pricing plans: Personal, Business (their most popular), Basic Commerce, and Advanced Commerce. \nEach of Squarespace’s plans comes with the following features:\nFree custom domain\nSSL security\nUnlimited storage\nSEO features\nTemplates for every type of website need\nOptions for multiple contributors (the Personal plan only allows two contributors, but all others are unlimited)\nMobile responsive websites\n24/7 customer support\nBasic website metrics\nHere’s a little more information on each of their individual plans. \nPersonal \nThis plan starts at $12 per month when you pay annually, or $16 per month if you choose to pay month to month.  \nBusiness\nThis plan starts at $18 per month when you pay annually and is $26 per month if you choose to pay monthly. If you choose to use this plan for eCommerce transactions, there will be a 3% transaction fee required. \nBasic Commerce\nThis plan starts at $26 per month when you pay annually and is $30 per month if you pay monthly. On this plan and the Advanced Commerce plan, there is no fee associated with transactions. \nAdvanced Commerce\nThis plan starts at $40 per month paid annually or $46 per month when paid monthly. The difference between this plan and the Basic Commerce plan is that with Advanced Commerce you have capabilities to sell gift cards, advanced shipping calculations, sell subscriptions, offer advanced discounts, and a few more advanced features. \nEach of Squarespace’s business plans comes with a free professional email box on G-suite with the option to purchase more. \nGet started with \nSquarespace here\n!\nWix\nWix can be a completely free option if you don’t need any additional features like your own domain and you don’t mind their ads on your site. But, for a professional business website, we recommend at least getting their basic plan to have your site on your own domain and remove those ads. \nWix has four premium plans that you can choose from:\n Combo at $13 per month\n Unlimited at $17 per month\n Pro at $22 per month\n VIP at $39 per month\nBasically, with each additional pricing tier, you gain more support, analytics capabilities, storage, ad vouchers, and some other add-ons. \nSimilar to Squarespace, Wix has tons of beautiful pre-made templates that you can choose to start from. And then you can customize each site to match your unique brand and style. \nGet started with \nWix\n today. \nShopify\nShopify is a platform that was built specifically for online sales. Whether you have a brick and mortar location or not, Shopify is perfect if you plan to sell any products online. \nIf you are starting a new business, their basic plan at $29/month will be the best solution. This includes the following features:\nOnline store (with a full eCommerce website and blog)\nUnlimited products\n2 staff accounts\n24/7 Shopify support\nSales channels (through social media and online marketplaces)\nManual order creation\nDiscount codes\nPOS apps and integrations\nAnd more!\nOnce you have an account set up with Shopify, you can start adding your products, customize the look of your site, and really set it up to be your own. \nThere are \nfees associated with transactions\n for every plan on Shopify which could be one downside to the platform, but you can’t beat the ease of setting up your products and website. \nGet started with \nShopify\n now. \nWhat to do next\nOnce your small business is all set with a new, professional-looking website, that’s just the start. There’s a lot that you can, and should, do to help improve your business’s online visibility so you can continue to grow your business. \nThere are several \nfree local SEO tips\n that we have outlined in some of our articles. One of those tips is managing your online reputation by gaining new online reviews and managing your online business profiles. 

5 best DIY websites for small businesses on a budget

25 free local advertising ideas for small businesses

More than ever before, Google reviews are vital to local businesses, even super-small, one-person shops, freelancers, contractors, solopreneurs, and more. This should come as no surprise, particularly considering how smartphones have become the go-to personal guide to local shopping. A Google study revealed just how important search has become for local businesses:\n4 in 5 consumers use search engines to find local information\n50% of consumers who conducted a local search on their smartphone visited a store within 1 day\n18% of local searches on a smartphone lead to a purchase within 1 day\n56% of on the go searches have local intent\nEvery day, potential customers use Google with the express intent to spend money with a local business. And every day, the vast majority of those customers look to Google reviews to tell them what they want to know about your business.\nThere’s little question that getting reviews matters for local businesses. According to one study, 90% of customers say their buying decisions are influenced by reviews, and 94% will use a business with a rating of at least 4 stars.\nBut according to that same study, 85% of consumers say that reviews older than 3 months aren’t relevant, and 70% say a review must have been left within 1 month to impact their decision.\nIn other words, you should never be done getting Google reviews for your business.\nHow to get Google reviews\nAs a business owner, it’s important for you to approach getting Google reviews as an ongoing process. We’ll share some tips that have helped many businesses get more Google reviews, but there’s no easy shortcut or secret trick to increasing your number of reviews or overall rating. Think of it like building and maintaining a good reputation back in the days before the internet. Word of mouth may have moved online, but the fundamentals haven’t really changed.\n1) Claim your Google My Business listings\nClaiming your Google my Business listing is crucial in managing your local business online. If you haven’t claimed your listing, you should do it right away. This allows you to manage your business’s information in Google Search and Google Maps, and enables you to respond to reviews. Plus, research shows that businesses that claim their listings on multiple online business reviews sites make 58% more money! Learn \nhow to claim your Google my Business listing\n.\n2) Ask your customers to review your business\nIt might sound obvious or overly simple, but the most effective way to get more reviews for your business is to ask for them. 7 in 10 customers will leave a review if asked. Here are some of the most effective ways to ask customers to review your business: \nPut up “Rate us on Google” signage\nPutting up small signs or stickers that simply say, “Rate us on Google” is an effective way to passively encourage reviews from customers who might not otherwise think to do so.\nAsk customers while they’re in your place of business\nThis is particularly effective in businesses where you have a lot of personal interaction with a customer. Make sure to avoid being overly aggressive or pushy, and \nnever\n ask for a specific star rating. Be casual, welcoming, and simple. “Thanks so much for your business today. If you get a chance, I’d love it if you’d review us on Google.”\n3) Create a direct link for customers to write Google reviews of your business\nGoogle has made it easy to make a link that will take your customers straight to reviewing your business with one click. This is especially helpful if you collect customer email addresses or maintain an active social media presence. That way your happy customers can review your business on Google with one simple click. \nLearn how to create a link for customers to write \nGoogle reviews\n.\nReply to all your Google reviews to build trust\nResponding to reviews is a great way to engage with your customers and show curious customers that you are a business who cares. In fact, studies have shown that businesses who responded to reviews saw an increase both in total number of reviews and average rating.\nRead our guide on \nhow to respond to reviews\n.\nCan I buy Google reviews?\nAbsolutely not. There are companies who make promises and offers to sell positive reviews and quickly grow your rating, but you should avoid them like the plague. These practices aren’t only dangerous and unethical, but also violate \nGoogle’s review policies\n.\nOther review solicitation practices you should avoid include:\nOffering discounts or gifts in exchange for positive reviews\nAsking customers to leave a 5-star review\nThreatening unhappy customers who might leave a bad review\nPut simply, Google wants to make sure all your reviews are genuine, open, and honest. Asking happy customers to leave an honest review of their experience is not only an acceptable practice, but an encouraged one. Trying to coerce a customer to leaving a positive review is not.\nSources:\n
\nhttps://www.brightlocal.com/research/local-consumer-review-survey/\n

How to get Google reviews

In this article:\nTest your idea\nUnderstand your market\nGet to know your customer\nEstablish funding\nStructure your business\nStart marketing\nAs you are getting ready to start your own business you’re going to have to wear a lot of different hats, and it’s not always going to be easy. But you’ve got this!\nJust to help you along the way, we’ve put together a list of six best practices to successfully launch your new small business. Keep these things in mind as you go about preparing your new business to give yourself the best chance at success. \nTest your idea\nBefore you ever start your business, you should test your business idea out on a smaller scale. What is the product or service that you want people to purchase?\nTest your idea out. See if people show interest in what you have to offer and if it even makes sense to move forward with it. Here are a few ideas to start testing your business idea:\nBuild a minimum viable product\nA minimum viable product (MVP) is the simplest form of your business idea that you can sell. During the testing process keeping it simple is critical in order to test, modify, and repeat. Show your target audience this MVP and get feedback to help you improve your idea before the real launch of your business. \nGet critiques\nTalk to other people in the industry, your family members, your friends, and potential customers about your idea. Get their honest opinions and show appreciation for any criticisms. \nYour idea is supposed to solve a real problem that people have. Find out if your target audience identifies with the problem that you think your idea will solve. \nYou can gain valuable feedback by presenting your idea to a potential customer in a real-world application. \nAdjust\nUse the critiques you get to adjust your idea and run it by even more people. Try to run your idea by at least 50 people (or more) and continue to adjust it until you and your harshest critics see a product or service that is ready to go to market. \nTry selling it \nBefore you launch your business in earnest, try selling your offerings on a limited basis. Are people even willing to pay the price that you want for your idea?\nIf things don’t go well during the testing process, that doesn’t mean you should give up. It just means you need to make changes and test it again. \nIsn’t it much better to figure those things out now than before you put all of your hard-earned money into it?\nUnderstand your market\nMarket research is important for any type of business that you may be launching. If you don’t understand the market that you are entering, you aren’t likely to succeed. \nSpend time talking to and researching others in the industry in your specific area. What are they doing well? What can you learn from their successes and failures?\nImportant questions to ask and understand during the market research process:\nHow large is your potential market?\nWill the market grow or shrink?\nHow can you expand your business as the market grows?\nCan you handle a growing market?\nWhat competition already exists in your target location and what share of the market do they own?\nWhat is the general public’s perception of your competitors?\nWhat sets you apart from competitors?\nWho is your ideal customer, and what do they want?\nWhat are the pain points of your ideal customer?\nWhy would people buy from you?\nWhat prices should you charge? What are competitors charging?\nWhat are your business goals and how will you reach them in this current market?\nGet to know your customer\nIn order to sell anything to anyone you have to know and understand who you are selling to. You need to know how to appeal to your target demographic. \nDuring the market research phase, you should uncover some important information about your target customer. \nInformation you should know about your target audience:\nAge\nGender\nEducation level\nProfession\nLocation of residence\nIncome level\nInterests\nWhat they do during free time\nMotivations\nBiggest challenges\nSpending/purchasing habits\nResearch habits (where do they go for information?)\nLearning these things about your customers will give you a better success rate of marketing and selling to those customers. You can’t just blast information about your business and expect to get qualified customers running to your store. \nhandwritten note profile of ideal customer for market research small business\nYou need to strategically plan for the type of customer you want and then appeal to the things that you know about them. \nEstablish funding\nYou can’t start a business without the proper funding. Even if you are able to work out of your home doing a service with equipment that you already own, you will need funding for marketing at the very least. \nThe more likely scenario is that you’ll need funding for a commercial space, capital to manufacturer a product or purchase equipment, and of course the money to start a good marketing campaign (including getting a website up). \nBeyond simply saving up the money you need to start your venture (also known as bootstrapping), here are a few ways to can acquire the necessary funding:\nBorrow from trusted friends and family. It’s not always ideal to be in debt to people you are close with, but if you are confident in your plan and are confident that you can pay them back quickly, then this isn’t a bad way to go. \nYou could always try crowdfunding. Crowdfunding is a way to let friends and friends of friends and all of their friends (and complete strangers) make their own contribution to your business. You’ve probably heard of GoFundMe, which is primarily meant for raising money for special life events and challenging circumstances. There are tons of platforms like this devoted to specifically helping small business owners like you get started.  \nTaking out a business loan is always an option if you have the credit score and collateral to back up the loan. \nGo deeper: \nGuide to small business loans: How to apply, best types, and tips\nStructure your business\nIt’s important to choose the right corporate structure for your small business. Do your research to find out if you should incorporate or if you should stick with a sole proprietorship until you see some significant growth. \nWe have a great guide that can help you learn more about sole proprietorship versus a corporation and what type of corporation is the best for your business. \nCheck it out here: \nHow and when to incorporate your small business\n\nStart marketing\nOnce you are satisfied with your business idea, you understand the market and your audience, and you’ve got the funding and structure in place, it’s time to get your name out there. \nIn this world of constant change and growing markets, it is imperative that you start a marketing campaign to help your business get found. \nThere are tons of ways that you can start your marketing, but the best place to start is the search engines and the places where your target audience spends most of their time. Are they big social media nuts or are they constantly on the road listening to the radio?\nCheck out these guides to get a good start to your marketing campaign:\n25 free local advertising ideas for small businesses\nLocal SEO: 15 free tips for better search rankings\n5 best DIY websites for small businesses on a budget\nLearn more: \n4 crucial steps to an effective small business marketing plan\n

6 best practices for successfully launching a small business

In this article: \nStrategies for growing your business in a “down year.”\nStrategies to prepare for increased demand during recovery\nAdditional resources to help with financial struggles\nOne of the biggest strategies small business owners are continuously trying to implement is how to grow their business. After all, business growth means that you are gaining success and more profits. \nBut what happens when the economy takes a turn for the worse? It can be difficult to continue growing or even to maintain your current level of profits during a recession or “down year.” \nThroughout this article, we’ll go over the best strategies for growing your business during an economic downturn, how to prepare for increased business as the economy recovers, and financial assistance resources you can reach out to during crisis situations. \nWhat strategies can you implement to grow your business when the economy is slow?\nGrowing your business really comes down to two things: getting new customers and having the resources in place to acquire and maintain new customers. The following strategies can help you accomplish these goals. \nImprove your cashflow\nCashflow is crucial to a thriving business, whether during a thriving economy or a recession. You need to pay your bills and operating expenses in order to gain new customers and you need that incoming profit from new customers to continue paying your operating expenses, and the cycle continues. \nA cashflow strategy should come well before an economic downturn if you have an established business. And if you are just starting out, you should have a plan to keep your incoming cashflow strong, especially through times of economic turmoil. \nCheck out this article: \n6 common small business cash flow problems and how to solve them\nFind ways to reduce costs\nThis strategy comes back to cash flow and having enough money to put towards your other growth strategies. Finding ways to reduce unnecessary expenses will help you allocate those funds towards improving the function and outlook of your company. \nDo an audit of your current expenses and determine what you can reasonably cut down to improve your spend in other areas. If you have an office or brick-and-mortar location, some common places that you can try to reduce costs include:\nUtilities: reduce your electric, water, and sewage costs by utilizing more renewable energy strategies\nInternet and phone plans: these companies are always trying to keep competitive quotes, so ask around for better pricing\nGo paperless and reduce the use of office supplies\nCut down on “luxuries” in the workplace, like expensed meals, trips, and more\nKeep marketing your business\nOne place where many business owners hurt themselves during a recession is marketing. When money gets tight, the marketing and advertising budget is often the first thing to go. But how do you expect to gain new business if you aren’t getting your name out there and keeping people informed? Cutting off marketing can cause a vicious spiral that can hurt your business even more than it already is.\nThis is especially important during a time like a global pandemic when people are more cautious about visiting businesses and staying at home more. \nRather than shutting off your marketing efforts, you need to get creative about how you can reach your customers during this time. Think about what they are going through and how your product or services can help them. Use that to appeal to them and gain their business. \nUse resources like social media, your website, and Google ads to help get your name and promotions out there. \n(Image)\n\nHow can you better prepare for increased growth as the economy recovers?\nAs the economy moves into a recovery and growth phase, it's crucial to prepare for the influx of business that will occur. What can you do to prepare for that increased demand?\nExploit opportunities to reduce costs while the demand is low\nYes, this is important here too. Before the recovery phase begins, you can look for opportunities to reduce costs that will help you to prepare for the increased growth that will occur. \nLook for some of the following opportunities in your community:\nCommercial rentals at a lower cost (you may even be able to use this to negotiate a deal with your current landlord)\nDeals on equipment \nUpgrades in software, internet plans, marketing campaigns, etc., due to the lower demand\nDon’t take on too much too fast\nIt’s an exciting time when the sales leads are constantly flowing in, but it’s important to be realistic in the amount of work that you can handle. Don’t accept every lead that walks in the (real or virtual) door, or if you do, set realistic expectations for your clients of when you’ll be able to get to their project. \nYou may have to turn down some business during this time, and that’s okay. It’s better to turn down a couple of leads that you don’t have the capacity to handle than to take on too much and not deliver on the work that you’ve promised. Just know your limits and be smart about the work that you take on. \nContinue your marketing efforts\nWe will always recommend you keep up your marketing efforts, even if it’s just finding \nfree ways to market your business\n within your community. \nEven as demand increases, it’s important to keep up marketing efforts that revolve around brand awareness and maintaining your online visibility. The high demand won’t last forever, and you’ll want to have continued business growth as things slow down again. Tasks like social media posting, email marketing, and SEO can all help with your long-term marketing strategy for gaining new customers. \nYou may also like:\n\nWhy small business email marketing should be your top priority\n\n\nTop social media strategies for small businesses\n\n\nThe small business marketing success guide\n\n\n15 free tips for better local search rankings\n\nWhat resources are available to help small businesses during economic struggles?\nIf you are struggling to keep positive cashflow or need help financially supporting the influx of business as the economy starts to recover, there are resources available that you can reach out to. \nA few options that can help in an economic downturn or emergency situation:\n\nSBA Disaster Assistance\n\n\nSBA-associated grants\n\n\nEconomic Injury Disaster Loan\n (EIDL) Program \nTalk to your bank about a \nsmall business loan\n\nSeek out small business investors\n

144 articles found in “Marketing”

Small business marketing: What’s the biggest bang for your buck?

5 best DIY websites for small businesses on a budget

25 free local advertising ideas for small businesses

How to get Google reviews

6 best practices for successfully launching a small business

How to grow your small business in a slow economy

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