asylum design blog

October… The kids are back to the grindstone of schoolwork. Football is starting and baseball is ending. Yes, the 4th quarter has begun. And as the seasons change we are reminded that the new year is not far off.

What does that mean as a business owner? Summer’s over… it’s time to get back to work.

It’s also time to evaluate this years performance and consider what needs to be done in the new one. Whether you had a good year or bad, now is the time to build on your success or examine the challenges you experienced and move on.

Here are 5 things you can do right now to improve your business

1. Reach out and touch someone, or everyone. Thank every customer or referral source you worked with this year for their business and remind them of your capabilities. Don’t wait for the holidays and be lost in the shuffle. Be proactive and get them thinking about next year as well.
2. Change is good, really. Especially for Web sites, so change yours. The more stale the site, the less likely customers will use it and the more invisible you become to search engines. The easiest thing you can do you can do to improve your site rankings, is update your site regularly. Small tweaks or a major overhaul, either way, take a look now and set a course of action. Here are a few questions to consider: When was the last time you examined your site statistics? Has your traffic increased? Decreased? How may clicks have you received from referral sites? Has your online advertising been successful? Is your content current? How old are the photos?
3. Make some new friends. Spend the end of this year creating an exciting online promotion. Take advantage of your social media network to drive customers to your site and collect their data and set a goal to increase your database by 15% by the end of the year. To do this, you will need to create some pretty exciting promotions, so consider developing a new promotion partner.
4. Commit to a cause, and brag about it. Customers like working with partners who care. Ask your staff to select a non-profit they are interested in and commit 1% of your profits to them. Or champion an internal change, such as transforming your office into a “green machine” or challenging your staff to become more physically active. Whatever you choose, make sure you have the enthusiasm to stick with it. Most importantly, tell the world what you are doing – and why – in every way possible, through social media, PR  and of course your Web site. You’ll feel better, your staff will feel better and your business will be better for it.
5. Celebrate success. Regardless of the year you had, you are one of the lucky ones. If your doors are still open, that’s something to celebrate, considering the economic climate we are in, so be proud. Treat yourself and your staff to a nice lunch or event (movie days are great morale boosters – close for half a Friday and see what happens). Schedule a staff retreat and listen to your employees. Start making a big deal out of birthdays in the office. Energized and enthusiastic employees work harder and when they see how their hard work translates to the bottom line, there is no telling what they will do for you.

Prepping for the new year does not necessarily take a lot of work. A little imagination can go a long way. So get busy and get back to work, working on your business.