Summer is flying by, and with all the craziness of trying to squeeze in trips to the pool with the kids, hiking, running, camping, vacations and all the other “summer” stuff, it is easy to let your business basics slide. Here are a 4 ideas to help give you that kick in the butt you might need to keep your business running and looking it’s best, with a business refresh!
UPDATE YOUR WEBSITE
Take a look at your site from a customer’s standpoint, or better yet, have a friend visit your site and ask them what stands out to them, or what they think should be tweaked. Here are a few common things to look for to give your website a business refresh:
Images – are your images seasonal, make sure there isn’t any snow in your homepage photos! Have you updated your own photo on your about us page? We all know you looked better 10 years ago, but does the picture even still look like you? 🙂
Contact Info – Is everything current? Did you move buildings and forget to update the address? Did you add a new employee and forget to list them on your contact page?
Sales – Do you still have information about your St Patrick’s day sale on your site? Take it down! If it isn’t pertinent to right now, it shouldn’t be on your home page.
Links – Do all your links work? Did you remove a page or document and forget to update the links that pointed to it?
Products – Are all of your new and hot products listed front and center on your website?
Testimonials – Have you added any new customer reviews to your site? It is always a good idea to show all the lovely things others are saying about you where everyone can see it. 🙂
Updates – There have been a lot of security breaches and therefore related updates to website services that you need to stay on top of. I have personally had 2 brute force attacks this summer on websites I manage, that because I was on top of the security settings and updates, was able to stop them in their tracks. So do your updates, and PLEASE backup your website regularly!
REFRESH YOUR STOREFRONT
Do you have weeds growing up next to your building? Is your paint peeling? Now is a great time, ya know cause there isn’t any snow on the ground, to make those easy fixes to your store!
Another place to look is in your store! When is the last time you dusted? Trust me, people notice that stuff. Are your displays falling apart? Or do you just need to rearrange your products for the season, to draw attention to your seasonal products?
Are your displays falling apart? Or do you just need to rearrange your products for the season, to draw attention to your seasonal products? Do it! If you have customers that come in regularly, they often stick to their routine of grabbing the same items or walking straight up to your service counter. Try placing those must-have items right next to your register, or having some racks near the entrance that you swap out with new products regularly. There is a reason that Walmart has that display of fresh flowers or Smore’s ingredients right in the isle.
Do you have large windows in your store? Those are prime real estate for graphics! Put fun images that people see outside your store to draw them in! It will help reduce the glare inside the store from that hot summer sun, and bring people in from outside! You can create some FUN graphics to fill an entire window fairly inexpensively.
Giving your store a business refresh could be just what you needed!
SPICE UP YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA
Are you doing some of the aforementioned summer activities and aren’t in the store or office as much? Get your customers interacting with you on social media! Host a giveaway, get people liking and sharing your top-selling and newest products on their pages! Have a photo contest encouraging customers to post photos of themselves using your products!
Social media is a great way to give your business a breath of fresh air!
CELEBRATE YOUR TEAM
Want to really enjoy the summer? Try taking your employees or team on a retreat to recharge EVERYONE’S batteries! Rent a cabin for the weekend and encourage everyone to come, maybe even bring their families for some much-needed bonding!
Make sure to enjoy every minute of summer, but don’t forget about your business in the meantime. Take a few minutes to do these business refresh tips and get your business looking fab, then sneak out early to go enjoy the summer. 🙂
