21 Tips for Small Business Spring Cleaning

Are you ready to spring into spring?! The first day of Spring this year is Thursday, March 20. Have you started thinking about doing a springtime spruce for your business? We have! Here is a list we’ve put together of 21 tips for giving your small business a spring cleaning:

Switch up your email marketing program. Don’t be afraid to try something new.

Evaluate your cross-selling tactics. It may be time to switch things up.

Check your links. All of them. Trust me, you’ll want to be the one to find a bad link before a customer does.

Expand your use of Google Analytics — it’s an extremely helpful tool. And better yet, it’s completely free! (Note that as per Google Analytics policy, if your site generates more than 10 million hits per month you must switch to their Premium level). Find a pretty handy guide from Google here.

Check your customers’ contact information. Make sure the email addresses you have on file are still good.

Send out a customer satisfaction survey. Find out what you’re doing well at and what you can improve upon.

Conduct analysis on your consumers. Determine which customers have the best lifetime value, and which are more expensive to maintain and keep.

What do your top customers have in common? Once you answer this question, you will be able to identify patterns that will help you find other top customers.

Encourage your employees to let you know what’s wrong. And remember to assure them why you’d appreciate that information and that they won’t be penalized for doing so.

Do competitive analysis. Your customers are doing this as well. Stay ahead of the game. Learn from your analysis, and consider implementing some changes to stay competitive.

Check in with your partners and vendors. This will give you a sense of where they stand in the upcoming months and are making decisions that benefit your company.

Update your website at least once per month including at least one new blog. This will make your site look better to Google.

Looking to get your PR picked up by local media outlets? Try including a link to a breaking news story or a previous interest piece that is related to yours.

Carefully select a reporter to start to build a relationship with. One word of advice — check out their social media pages to see what kind of influencer they are.

Think about how your news impacts the community. Remember that impact = news.

Still hesitant if your social media marketing strategy is working? Consider reaching out to a professional and asking their opinion. It could be a matter of your business not being on the right social networks.

Review your expenses. All of them. Are you paying for services that you aren’t actively using? A lot of times things like this slip under the radar.

Want to spring clean your necessary expenses? Pick an amount that you are comfortable spending, such as $200 or so. Take a look at all of your annual expenses that are greater than $200. Do they have a direct benefit for your company? If no, these are the items you want to either get rid of or make it a project to investigate less expensive options.

Are you in a rut or struggling for more profits? Consider taking the time to seek out a mentor. For example, the SBA (U.S. Small Business Administration) works with a number of local partners in your area to counsel, mentor and train small business. Check out where your local office is here.

Are you looking into marketing for the first time? It’s pretty overwhelming, isn’t it. Start with your target market — who exactly it is you want to market your products or services to. There are many resources out there that can provide you with helpful information on your target demographic. Most notably, where they shop! (i.e. online). Want to fast forward the process? See where your competitors are marketing —they may have already done the research for you.

Now is a great time to fine tune your elevator pitch. Looking for a magic formula? Try:
* Name
* Company
* Purpose of your product and/or service
* Why do consumers need your product? What makes it unique?

Are you planning on giving your small business a spring cleaning? What tips do you have for business owners just starting out? Let us know in the comments below, or connect with us on Facebook, Twitter or Google+.