10 Ways to Get More Business Reviews
According to an article on SmallBizTrends.com this week, “Small business owners’ expectations for better business conditions over the next six months fell by seven points to a net negative 61%. So far expectations for better conditions have worsened every month this year.” That’s not great news. With rising costs, many businesses are struggling. When it comes to dealing with these pressures, you have two options to improve revenue: new growth or new marketing efforts. New growth means pursuing new avenues
Christina R. Metcalf
5 Ways to Level Up Your Small Business Marketing (and yes, it’s time)
Christina Metcalf
Acing the Basics of Grant Writing
Hiring a grant writer isn’t cheap. Some charge a flat fee, while others base their fee as a percentage of the grant amount. If you’re a small business or nonprofit, you may not be able to afford to hire someone. But it is worth it. To take on grant writing yourself, you’ll miss out on the years of experience you’ll get with a professional and it will likely take more time. But if you’re looking for a DIY solution, you need to know the basics of grant writing.
Christina Metcalf
The State of Small Business
The chamber is the Voice of Business and as the Voice of Business, there’s something we feel the need to express to everyone in this community. Inflation is being felt everywhere, from Fortune 500 companies to solopreneurs just starting out. However, the difference between large-scale companies and smaller ones are their reserves. According to JP Morgan Chase, the average small business runs with only 27 days of operating expenses in reserves. Increases in utilities, goods and services, real estate, and gas
Christina R. Metcalf
5 Great Lessons from Customer Service Mistakes
Every business is convinced they offer stellar service but if you can’t think of a company in your area that offers bad service, it might be you. It’s statistically impossible, not to mention an abuse of a superlative, for every business to offer “the best” service. One is better than the other. We aren’t all 5-stars all the time. But that doesn’t mean we can’t learn from the experience. If you’ve recently received some bad reviews or customer service complaints, here’s how you can learn from them.
Christina R. Metcalf
5 Professionals You Need on Your Small Business Team
If you’re a small business owner without the resources to hire a large full-time team, you can still meet your business needs through freelancing or turning to independent business professionals. This can be an economical way to accomplish your goals without having to cover the cost of full-time employees. Even if your budget is strapped, a successful business requires the services of the following types of professionals. These professionals do things that you don’t need to (or shouldn’t be doing on your
Christina R. Metcalf
6 Ways to Make Your Business Stand Out During a Local Event
Does your town host a Wine Walk, Holiday Stroll, First Friday, or other downtown event where they close off streets and encourage people to get out and support business? If so, you may know that those events often bring the crowds but also bring “tire kickers,” people who are just out for a stroll, not really interested in what you sell. They’re just going into each business, poking around, and usually leaving empty handed. The hard part of that is that you likely brought in full staff to ensure you had
Christina R. Metcalf
How Easy Is It to Do Business with You?
People will not do business with you if you make it hard to do business. There’s just too much competition and not enough interest. To attract sales and become interested in your business, you want people to know, like, and trust you. Once they are interested, your work isn’t complete. You want to make it easy on them to do business. If you’re doing the following things in business, you may be missing sales because you are making it too hard.
Christina R. Metcalf
20 Ways to Celebrate National Holidays
All in, there are almost 2000 national days and holidays in the US. In May, for example there are days celebrating: orange juice, truffles, nurses, shrimp, wine, walnuts, hamburgers, paper airplanes, paperclips, and more! If you’re like me, you may find them hard to keep up with, but they can be a great source of engagement for your business. You just have to know how to use them for maximum return and get a little creative. Celebrating these days serves to connect your audience with your business so make
Christina R. Metcalf and Nick Sharps
Do You Have These 10 Things on Your Business Website? You Should
If you’re a small business, you probably bootstrapped your website content, picking it up here and there, copying what you like from other sites (hopefully not word for word), and adding as you go. That’s the way most small businesspeople do it unless you’re lucky enough to know someone who offered their writing services or have it in your budget to have it written for you. But do you ever wonder if you have the type of content that will transform the casual web visitor into someone who buys? Here are the
Christina R. Metcalf
