9 small things to improve within your business in the next year

With every new year comes new challenges. So, now it’s a perfect time to reflect on your business and decide what needs to change to make your business better and more efficient. Even the smallest things can make a huge difference, and today we have nine small things you can do to improve your business in the new year. 

1. Create an introductory offer to your brand

One of the most effective ways to improve your business in the new year is to create a smaller, more affordable product that will serve as an introduction to your brand. Sometimes, people are not ready to commit to a full course when they first stumble upon your business. But they might be very willing to purchase a smaller offer to see whether they can gain the value they’re looking for from your business. 

Podcasting expert Pat Flynn is a great example of how you can successfully implement this strategy in your business. He has his signature offer, Amp’d Up Podcasting, an online course on podcasting priced at $999. This price tag is an investment, especially if someone is unfamiliar with Flynn’s brand.

So, Flynn offers multiple smaller products at lower price points that target specific pain points his audience has and that all relate to his passive income building business. The prices for his smaller products range from $99-$499, so he’s able to reach more people and turn them into fans of his brand with his smaller offers. 

Here are examples of good introductory offers: 

• Ebooks
• Workbooks
• Single-topic courses
• Workshops
• Masterclass
• Digital templates
• Mini courses

Once you have set up one or two smaller products, on top of making your business accessible to more people, you’ll also be able to increase your sales with order bumps. Each of the smaller offers can be used as an order bump when someone’s purchasing your online course to increase their order value. 

2. Revise your email marketing efforts

Your email list is where the money lies because the return on every $1 spent on email marketing is a whopping $42. And, your email list is also where people the most interested in your brand are. So, there’s always room for improvement in your email marketing strategy.

If you don’t have a solid email marketing strategy, develop one for the new business year. Learn how to write good sales emails, craft catchy headlines that get your emails opened, and implement the best strategies to promote your email list to get more leads organically. 

3. Set up automation for your email list

If you already have an email marketing campaign up and running, you must automate as much of your email marketing efforts as possible. Doing so will allow you to manage your campaigns stress-free as you’ll know that you have systems in place that help things run smoothly. 

In particular, you want to set up an automation for your onboarding sequence of welcoming emails. Ensure you have an effective, welcoming sequence set up that greets all new people who join your list and direct them to correct subscriber groups. The chances are that you have multiple lead magnets to attract new people to your list. So, writing welcoming emails every time someone new joins your list can be extremely time-consuming. 

You want to create individual welcoming sequences for each lead magnet you have. Your onboarding sequence doesn’t have to be long. Two to three emails are enough—unless you have an email course as your lead magnet. Introduce your brand, deliver the lead magnet you promised, and tell people what to expect from you. 

Having your welcoming emails automated will vastly improve your business, and you’ll save a lot of time you can now spend working on other parts of your business. 

4. Set up a community group

A very easy place to start when you’re looking to improve your business is creating a community. An online community is crucial for online entrepreneurs. And it’s one of the selling points for many online course creators. 

There are two ways you can approach creating a community: 

A community for current students

Creating a group for your current students to connect with others and you is a great way to increase the value of your offer without much investment. In addition, you will be able to build a personal relationship with your students, which in turn will allow you to create superfans of your brand long-term. 

Also, if your students find friends via your community, they will be more willing to recommend you whenever they mention how they met their new friends. 

Once you have a community set up, you can create pricing tiers for your online course, adding an option for people to pay more and get access to your community and other students. This is a great way to increase the order value and grow your revenue. 

A community for prospective students

Another option for your business would be to create a group for all prospective students who are not yet enrolled. Anyone interested in your business can join and connect with you and other like-minded people. 

This type of community will require less time and personal involvement and should serve as your way to build deeper trust with your audience before they’re ready to make a sale. 

5. Purge your social media

You can improve your business in five minutes or less with a social media audit. The chances are that you are on more than one social media platform. If you’re a solo entrepreneur, it can be hard to manage everything independently. The good news is — you don’t have to be on every single social media platform. It’s enough to be on one or two and show up consistently. 

So, take the time to go over your social media accounts and evaluate how effective they have been in the past. Once you do that, cut out all social media platforms that consume a lot of time and don’t bring in the most results. It’s always good to choose a platform you’re most familiar with and most comfortable on, as it will make it easier to use.