Around 50% of all businesses fail within the first five years of being open. If you want to start growing a small business and don’t want it to fail, you’ll have to identify your key objectives and go all in. Sure, I’m a marketing guy. But I’m also a sales guy. And aside from the topics I’ll share here, you’ve got to do everything you can to make sure your market knows you’re here.
Marketing = sales opportunity. It’s that simple.
You’ll also need to try different marketing methods and see which ones work best for your business. What works for one business might not work well for you. But that’s what the Lighthouse Digital team is here for. We’ve got the insights and experience to hone in on your needs and the best path forward.
So let’s dive in. Here are some of the best small business tips for Sarasota, Florida.
1. Organize and Plan Ahead
Call me Captain Obvious, but you won’t get anywhere with your business if you don’t plan. Every business needs to have a plan and be organized. Consider what you want to accomplish with your business. Prioritize and execute in order of importance.
Think about revenue. Think about legacy. Think about your local market and competition. How much do you want your business to grow? Do you want to grow it into a huge commercial power? Or would you rather make some small expansions?
It is important to ask yourself these questions so you have a better idea of what tactics to implement. Remember those core emotional reasons why you wanted to start your business in the first place? Have a clear picture of what you want in your mind, and make it real.
Remember, nothing exists until we make it exists. And as the owner/operator, that is your key objective at the beginning. Don’t get overwhelmed. Think small steps. It will then be easier to work toward that goal and accomplish what you want. In no time at all, accomplishing little goals along the way leads you to your big goal.
2. Find Your Niche in Sarasota
Every business needs a niche. If your business is too general or vague, it will be hard to establish a target audience. Without a target audience, you won’t have anyone to buy your products or services.
This is true whether you have an online or brick-and-mortar business in Sarasota, FL. There is the gardening niche, the legal niche, the beauty niche, the food niche, and so on. Being a part of a niche will help you be more focused on what your business is accomplishing.
Don’t forget: speak your customer’s language and not in your industry jargon.
Pro tip: While it’s true that you can encompass several niches, you should be careful when doing this. Keep the core ideal of your service close to your chest, in your messaging, and relatable to your audience.
3. Make It Easy for Customers to Buy Your Products
I can’t stress this enough. No one wants to struggle to buy something. This is why you need to make it as easy as possible to buy things from your business. If you have a physical store, all a person needs to do is walk in and buy something they like.
If you have an online store, your customers should have the same ease of use. If you make things too complicated on your website, your customers will likely bounce.
Take the leap and jump into the 21st century. Have easy payment tools like financing (iff applicable), Venmo, Cash App, Quickbooks invoicing, and more. The payoff (yeah, pun intended), will be worth it.
4. Start Using Social Media
Millions of people use social media every day. The most popular platforms include Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube, among others. If your business doesn’t have a social media account, you’re missing out.
Social media allows you to share your content with millions of people at once and builds trust in your, your brand, and your services. This is great for expanding your brand awareness and attracting new customers. It is also great for attracting a more youthful audience.
Posting regularly on social media platforms will bring you a steady stream of traffic in no time.
5. Try Local SEO Services
Growing a small business can be overwhelming, especially if you plan on having a larger digital presence. Regardless, your business in Sarasota, FL, is still a local business. There are benefits from making sure your customers within 25 miles know about you.
So how do you do that? Lighthouse Digital specializes in local SEO packages that have gotten our clients to appear on page 1 of Google, right in the coveted top three map spots in as little as 36 hours.
Don’t waste your money on local print mailer coupons. We all know where those eng up. Spend your money on something more cost-effective that will get your business front and center to customers on all their devices – including their car’s infotainment centers.
6. Cater to Your Target Audience
It is important to understand your target audience. A target audience is essentially a demographic interested (or needing) certain products or services. For example, your target audience might consist of older adults who are interested in gardening (hey, it’s a Florida thing!
If your business provides gardening supplies, try to speak your customer’s language. While they might be looking for a particular item, think about the outcome and lean into that: time spent outside, time spent with friends, a beautiful home, exercise, and more. Sometimes your products and services are worth more than their obvious value.
7. Work With Our Local Business Marketing Agency in Sarasota, FL
If you’re too overwhelmed to deal with all this by yourself, you can always trust us as your preferred local business agency. Our digital marketing agency can handle everything from advertising to SEO and more. This is important if you aren’t very tech-savvy and don’t know the first thing about digital marketing.
In this day and age, businesses need to have an online presence. Improving your online presence with a business agency will give your business the boost it needs. This will make it much easier for your business to succeed.
There are thousands of customers looking for your products and services online. If they cannot find you, you are losing tremendous market share.
8. Optimize Your ROI
Having a business can be expensive. Before you know it, you can be in tens of thousands of dollars up to a few million, depending on your business. Whatever your allocate precious capital on needs to be an asset. These assets need to create efficiencies and profitability.
For instance, your website is (and should be) an asset. More times than not, people think that simply having a website is enough. It isn’t.
Did you know that you can have a website actively hunting for your customers? Ask yourself if your website is making you money. If you don’t know, you’re not alone. Most business owners don’t.
As a certified Google Partner, Lighthouse Digital can implement the strategies and show you the data on how much your growing MoM & YoY.
9. Use SEO
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is vital for improving your business website and in the spirit of the last section, is one of the more cost-effective ways to generate a sustainable, business-building asset.
Many of my clients are a bit old school. They started businesses long before the internet was a thing. And they have a hard time understanding the value of SEO. Here are my two cents:
SEO allows search engines (mainly Google) to discover your business and present it to shoppers whenever they’re looking for your products & services.
This statement is always followed by, “Yeah, but I never needed SEO before. So why now? Our business is steady and referral-based and doing ok.”
And therein lies the key. SEO makes the difference between your business just “doing ok” and absolutely crushing it (along with your competition).
If you are looking to grow, secure your market share, and take out the competition, SEO is a must. Because here’s what’s happening: Sarasota is growing. New businesses will be leveraging digital strategies to make their mark. And you will lose as a result.
The time to set up your perimeter is now!
10. Create Great Content
The content you write for your website should always be high-quality. If it is full of typos or long and hard-to-read paragraphs, your website won’t get very far. You should also avoid uninformative or “fluffy” content.
Google can detect when content is uninformative, and it will rank it lower where it is harder for people to find. But if you create great content, you won’t have this problem.
Our team of master copywriters are specialists within their respective industries, and they have been writing with your end-users (customers) in mind for decades.
Benefit from our ability to speak to your customers. You’ll be glad you did.
11. Provide Fantastic Customer Service
If you want your business to succeed, you should make sure your customers love your brand. You can do this by providing great customer service. Above all, make sure that your customers feel valued.
Remember, no question is a silly one. I see businesses suffer from insulting their customers all the time. You do what you do all day, every day. Of course, things make sense to you. Keep in mind that your customers live in their world, not yours. Help them cross the bridge.
If you don’t, unhappy customers may give you bad reviews, which will hurt your bottom line. As an SEO specialist, I can tell you that positive (and negative) reviews are huge ranking signals to google. Make sure you get as many positive reviews as you can.
12. Check Out Your Competitors
Competitive analysis is part of all our digital marketing packages. You’ve got to know what your competitors are up to so you can beat them at every turn. It’s a jungle out there. Let’s make sure you’re the king of it.
Your competitors will try to steal your customers from you every chance they get. We’ll figure out what they’re doing so that you can do it better.
Also, we’ll make sure you’re more visible than they are. If you rank higher on Google, they’ll likely call you first.
13. Automate Basic Tasks
If your business requires you to perform repetitive tasks, find a way to automate them. This will save you time that you can use for more important matters.
Time is money, and that is especially true when trying to grow a business.
I once heard someone say that a foolish businessperson spends time to save money, whereas a wise businessperson spends money to save time.
When it comes to digital marketing, let us be the done-for-you solution vs. the do-it-yourself solution. You’ve got bigger fish to fry.
14. Limit Distractions
You’ll never get any work done if you’re constantly distracted. In today’s hustle culture, so much can get lost with the millions of things competing for our attention from hour to hour.
Our CEO & Founder was recently featured in Authority Magazine in a series called “From Frenzy to Focus.” It’s a must-read for anyone looking to streamline their operations, especially at the start.
15. Have a Backup Plan
Not all businesses work out as intended. Have you thought about alternate strategies and routes you might take if you need to adapt and innovate?
Having a backup plan will reduce stress. And stress is a killer. It will create panic and erratic decisions that will ultimately hurt you in the long run.
Believe it or not, we can actually help you by reducing stress and creating focus. Drop us a line; we’ll tell you how.
All About Growing a Small Business in Sarasota, FL
Another favorite lesson of mine from a mentor long gone: if you want to go fast, go it alone. If you want to go far, go with those you know.
Running a business takes a team to ensure longevity. We can help you make that happen.
Growing a small business in Sarasota, FL, should be a joy. We live in paradise. Most people are here because they are looking for an elevated quality of life.
If you want to make sure you bring your tier-1 products and services right to their devices, click to see what we offer as the top digital marketing agency in Sarasota, Florida.
