Things to do when business is slow to help your business grow
An useful resource any time you’re sitting around with “nothing to do” for your business, or wondering how you can grow your business. This list and other resources via By Regina blog.
Send some handwritten notecards to clients. Thank them, drop a note and say "hello", acknowledge an home anniversary, inspire them, give them some free business ideas or tips. You know … be amazing. Your clients will remember how much they like you and may hire you for something new. Order cards.
Round up some testimonials from new or your favorite clients. Send out a sweet email asking for reviews. Add testimonials to your website, Yelp or e-mail marketing. An added bonus would be to thank you client for taking the time to write a testimonial with a $5 or $10 gift card to a favorite restaurant or movie theater.
Check in on past clients via email. Send past clients an email and ask them how they are doing in their new home. Do they have questions? Do you have a suggestions on a service proffesional that could help them? Show them you care care enough to check in on them and answer any questions they may have and they will look to you for future future real estate needs.
Write an actual business plan. Be honest; you never did one, and that’s okay. Just do it now. Even if it’s only a few pages. Business plans are a great way to set goals and create business strategies for your business. It is mportant to have a workable strategy in place and stick to that until goals are met. Realtor.com has useful steps to create a business plan.
Take an online class, or a cool small business class in your city. Classes expand your knowledge and are great ways to network with other real estate professionals.
Identify three areas of life/business where you can start saving money. and thus have more money available for important business needs. Review your advertising/marketing expenses and see if that money can be saved or better spent somewhere else. Some easy cuts include: give up cable, find less expensive phone plan, look for better insurance rates, cut out expensive coffee/lunches.
Do something creative (that’s not directly related to your business) to get your creative juices flowing. Paint or draw, write a short story, redecorate a room in your house, cook an awesome meal, create an inspiring playlist, etc.
Volunteer some pro-bono work to a charity, business, or random organization. It will be good for the world, good for your portfolio, and good for you to keep working. Spend your time volunteering with something you are passionate about, such as animals, kids school, church, etc. Volunteering is an awesome way to meet new people and potentially new clients.
Find yourself a peer group. You know … some people you can talk your business ideas over with, people who can encourage you, people who “get” you and who live the small business lifestyle as well. Find those people (good sources are friends, online communities, blogs) and talk with them once a month or once per quarter to keep you on your “A game.”
Get new business cards. If you’ve updated your logo, website url, social media profiles or any information on your business card, it’s time to order new ones. New business cards are a good way to introduce yourself again to prospective clients by leading with "Do you have my new business card yet"?
Host a giveaway for your business and promote the [expletive] out of it. Maybe it’s a free lunch, an email-delivered gift card to Amazon, or a small product or service you really love. Giveways are a great way to call attention to your business and get people talking about you.
Create some standard reply emails that you can quickly personalize whenever a potential client emails you. Have one for new clients and current clients. People appreciate a quick email response that shows you are serious about your business and put the client's needs first.
Create a marketing planner that breaks down your key promotions into weekly & monthly tasks. This keeps you from feeling overwhelmed and accomplishing your goals one at a time, in a more managable way. Start with writing down four weekly goals. From there, break down each week by day, with one marketing goal per day. Some examples of this include: email past clients, send clients hand-written notes, post to social media, etc.
Organize the files on your computer and your home desktop screen. No, really organize them. It will help you FOCUS. Try a system where your desktop is a completely blank screen with one folder for all your “Desktop” items, and then any documents/projects that require your immediate attention, call “The Awesome List,” which is all of your to do items. Everything else is stored away in the most logical folder for it.
Create a pretty email campaign to send out to your email list. Mailchimp is a great, free way to do this. Your email campaigns should have relevant and valuable information related to your business. Keep your clients in the know about things of interest to them, so they keep you in mind when thinking about all things real estate. If you don’t have an email list, create one with clients and friends.
Go into research mode. Find three blogs or websites in your industry with great information you can learn from. Seeing what the competition is up to will motivate you to try new ways to approach your business. Or, find your favorite 10 blog posts about a certain topic and share links to them from a new blog post on your site.
Evaluate your goals for this month and quarter. Are they in line with your goals for this new year? Are your daily activities in line with your long term strategies? Are they in line with your “bigger picture”? Reviewing your goals on a regular basis will help you keep better aligned with long term goals and ways to grow your business throughout the year.
Spend some time learning (really, really learning) a social media platform you think might be valuable to your business. For example: Play around in Pinterest for a few days. Note the pins that draw your attention, read descriptions and see which ones are most effective, find some top pinners in your industry and see what they’re doing right. Learn the slang, etiquette, and way of life on the social media channel of your choice. Then, dive into creating content for your business social media profile/page.