​Many of us have spent this year concerned over the health of our businesses or those in the community. Ultimately, a healthy business has a good balance sheet. It has more coming in than it does going out. But that is not the only indicator of business health.
 
In today’s world, where a quick decision from a politician can radically affect your business overnight, it’s important to know the early indicators of business peril. This of these things as your business’ “canary in the coal mine.”

​Do you want to appeal to a younger demographic? Want to get people talking about you? Maybe you want to attract an ultra-cool influencer or celebrity customer? If you do, rebranding and becoming a “fun” company may be just the way to get more attention.
 
Why are we suggesting “fun”? With Gen Y being the largest generation in the U.S. in 2019, with an estimated population of 72.1 million, they have strong purchasing power. They also enjoy experiences and tend to tell others about products and businesses they like.
 
If you want more customers, becoming a “fun” business with an identifiable tone and brand, can help you build a loyal audience that enjoys talking about you.
 

​News stations are finally embracing the word that COVID numbers are going down and vaccine administrations are going up. That’s allowing people to see the light at the end of the pandemic tunnel. If you have weathered the storm so far, you know your business is not completely in the clear. There are always unexpected challenges like freak snowstorms and mass electrical outages that are keeping us all on our business toes, regardless of where you sell or operate from. Nothing will tell you faster how interconnected we are than understanding how weather in one part of the country can stimy business operations in another.
 
But as we begin to see COVID numbers drop and (eventually) restrictions loosen, there are several common marketing mistakes you’ll want to avoid.
 

​You current clients/customers are likely an untapped resource of additional revenue. After all, it is much easier to sell to someone who already likes you than it is to win over a new person.
 
But there’s a lot of competition out there.
 
There’s a saying in the restaurant industry that a diner who described their meal as “satisfactory” will never be back again. In order to get return customers, upsells, and referrals you must do better than just meeting expectations. You must exceed them.
 
Thankfully, as they say, the difference between ordinary and extraordinary is just a little extra. In this article, we’ll give you seven quick ideas on how to create those extra opportunities that will translate into greater upsell and referral opportunities. When someone is “wowed” they will buy more and talk about you (exactly what you need for referrals).

​A few years ago, a trend hit—customizing your offerings to what your customers wanted. It involved surveying every part of their experience and shaping your business based on results. Customer-designed offerings kept a lot of businesses alive during COVID. The idea is a great one, give them what they want, make them feel important, and they’ll return.
 
This premise was so widely adopted that we all became professional survey takers. Now every moment you spend with a business (online or in-person) is followed by a survey on your experience. From airlines to doctors, they’re all doing it. These requests are exhausting and make people regret giving out their emails.
 
But it’s important to ensure your business offerings are in-line with what your customers want, right? So how do you ensure this without giving them survey fatigue? Here are a few ideas that will help you get the information you need without annoying them.

​When I was in marketing for a tech company in the beginning days of content marketing, links were gold. Every time someone linked to our content my boss got excited. While I loved the free publicity and SEO awesomeness we acquired from links, I hated the act of actively pursuing them. It felt like we were begging people to like us and—let’s face it—we were.
 
But while a lot of things have changed since that time, the importance of links is still relevant. Search engines use links from other sources to your website as an indicator of quality content. While it’s not the only indicator, it is an important one.
 
Your business website needs links to show the search engines you’re loved by others. But not all links are of the same worth. Here’s how you can get some great links for very little effort.

​The world is full of gurus who will tell you to set some goals, drive action, make it happen. And that’s good advice.
 
But just because you can, doesn’t always mean you should.
 
Launching a new product or service is not something you want to do because you had a wild idea one morning over coffee or in the shower. There’s a lot more that goes into the launching of that product or service. But research and development can be pricey.
 
What if you have a business idea you want to run with but don’t have the money to hire someone to crunch numbers and present data? Should you launch without it? If you do, that could prove to be even more costly.
 
So how can you test an idea without a huge investment?

​The world is full of gurus who will tell you to set some goals, drive action, make it happen. And that’s good advice.
 
But just because you can, doesn’t always mean you should.
 
Launching a new product or service is not something you want to do because you had a wild idea one morning over coffee or in the shower. There’s a lot more that goes into the launching of that product or service. But research and development can be pricey.
 
What if you have a business idea you want to run with but don’t have the money to hire someone to crunch numbers and present data? Should you launch without it? If you do, that could prove to be even more costly.
 
So how can you test an idea without a huge investment?

​Productivity is always a big push at the beginning of the year. Everyone wants to do more with less, less money, less time, and fewer resources. This article will show you four ways to structure your day for greater success in achieving your goals. The one that best works for you is a personal decision but trying several of these can give you some good insights into how you (and your employees) work best.

4 Ways to Structure Your Day for Success 
Time Segmenting
The first way to think about your day is the organization framework. Most productivity experts will agree that segmenting out time is a way to stay on track. Elon Musk, for instance, budgets his day in five-minute increments, five-minute calls, meetings, touch bases, etc.
 
If that is too frantic a schedule for you, you may want to try something like the Pomodoro Method, which structures the day around 20-minute sprints of focused activity. Set a timer for 20 minutes and during that time nothing is allowed to derail you from your work. When the 20-minute buzzer goes off, you have 10 minutes to do other, less focused things such as check on emails or return a phone call. At the end of that 10 minutes, you set another sprint timer.
 
Themes
You can also take a cue from Jack Dorsey the founder of Twitter. He assigns themes to his workday concentrating on one aspect of the business per day much like you might do as part of a workout routine.
 
If that is too limiting and you feel your schedule needs to be a little more fluid, you could assign theme hours or chunks of the day. For instance, Monday Marketing or New Business at Noon.
 
Permanent Dates
Another way to be more productive is to work on things that you’re passionate about. But in times of crisis and when there are many things going on, it’s easy to go into reactionary mode and eliminate these “less important” activities.
 
Avoid that temptation. Scheduling time—even if it’s just half an hour to concentrate on something that refuels you—is a good investment in yourself professionally and in your business.
 
But in order to adhere to these “refreshers” you need to put them on a calendar like you would a meeting with your most loyal customer. Do not allow yourself or anyone else to cancel these important times in your day or week.
 
Free Days
Everyone needs a meeting-free day. It allows you to focus on things that don’t require consensus and gives you more controllable time in your day.
 
You can get quite a lot done if you work to keep your meeting-free day the same day (or half day) every week. This day can be used to catch up on things, reach out to new business, explore a creative outlet or new market, or whatever the business needs at the moment.
 
If you like a tight schedule, building in “free time” that will never be stolen by meetings or other potential time wasters will give you peace of mind that you have a scheduled cushion or productivity boost coming up.
 
If this year is the one you plan on becoming more productive, know that there’s not one way that works for everyone. Implementing one of these tried-and-true structures can help you get better insights into your day and where your time is going. Remember, every decision you make on how you will use your time brings you closer—or tracks you further—from your goals.
 
Since others don’t usually know what your goals are, don’t leave it up to them as to how you spend your time. If you do, you can be assured you won’t end up where you’re planning to be.
 
 
Christina R. Metcalf (formerly Green) is a marketer who enjoys using the power of story and refuses to believe meaningful copy can be written by bots. She helps chamber and small business professionals find the right words when they don’t have the time or interest to do so. 
Christina hates exclamation points and loves road trips. Say hi on Twitter or reach out on Facebook.
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​Who has time for a newsletter? If you want more sales and a more loyal audience, you need to find the time. The magic of newsletters is that they are a way to distribute your content on a regular basis straight to someone’s email inbox or phone. It creates a privileged communication when you do it correctly. But when done poorly, it can feel like a boring monologue of self-promotion.
 
If you don’t have a newsletter, it’s time to start building a list of emails and creating a newsletter. Whether you’ve been a longtime newsletter publisher or one just starting, here are a few ideas to spice it up.