Secrets to Building a Successful Brand
I'll be honest, this title is clickbait at it's finest because there are no 'secrets' to my success, I've always been open about how I've got to where I am now with web development. There are however tips and tricks I've picked up along the way that have made my business sleeker and in return, my life a lot easier.
When you hit a quiet patch...
When you're quiet, it's easy to view this time as just that, a quiet period. You might look for more work for a little bit, or take a few days off because you've worked hard and deserve it but it's these quieter days that can really help the future of your brand. It's got to a stage now where I actually book time out of my schedule for quiet periods because these really matter to my business. I spend my quieter times preparing content in advance whether this be blog posts, social media content or updating my website. It's easy as a small business owner to focus solely on client work and leave your own brand until last but this isn't the right approach. These tasks are so important and will be what brings you more custom in the future so spend your quieter times getting ahead.
When you're busy...
It's easy to let strategies go out the window when you're knee deep in client work but this is the time they're most important. When you have work on, look for more. Don't neglect this time just because you have work to keep you going, use this to line up the next set of work!
Lists
I've said it 100 times before and I'll probably say it another 100; always write lists. I like to write lists for each day and always start with the most dreaded task first. I find working this way easier as I feel like I've accomplished something big straight away, I also spend less time putting it off by doing it first.
Recommendations
By now you'll probably know how much of an impact recommendations can have on your business; without them my business probably would have failed in the first year. Never be afraid to ask for them from clients when you've finished, 9 times out of 10 they're more than happy to write one for you and the worst thing that can happen is that they say no!
Say yes
When I first started out, I hated phone calls and would do anything I could to avoid them. I now realise, some people love phone calls and wont trust you until they can speak to you and build a human connection with you. I'm still not a massive fan of them but now I say yes and book them in as soon as possible so I have less time to worry about them!
Think outside the box...
I wrote a blog post last month about my favourite business books, a line from Daniel Priestley's 'Entrepeneur Revolution' is "when there's an asset, there are many ways to make money from it". This is true for all businesses! Take a jeweller for example, they might initially think they can only make jewellery but if you dive a little deeper they can sell workshops, photo albums of the engagement ring process to make it more personal, personalised items, create videos on the process.... all of this comes from making jewellery but there are multiple ways to generate income from it. Take a look at your business and see if you're growing it to it's potential.
