What’s the business case for Black Friday?

It’s that time of year when retailers and consumers alike brace themselves for the onslaught of discounts, deals, and sales that come at the end of November. With Black Friday closing in, of course, small businesses are forced to think about their own sales and offerings too.

Questions like: do I need to create a new offer? Should I be promoting my product or service? Do I need new sales funnels?, might be flooding your mind.

So, what are my thoughts as a marketing consultant, and someone who has been on both sides of Black Friday chaos?

Setting up processes and automations with the right tools, at the right time in your business

An important part of building and scaling your business is ensuring it’s sustainable. Business ownership and everything it entails – from marketing to lead generation to content creation to sales to customer service – is all about the long game.

That means automating processes when it makes sense, hiring support and asking for help when you need it, making data-based-decisions, and implementing new tools and systems to improve efficiency.

However, these tools, automations, and processes are only useful if you implement them strategically and at an appropriate speed.

How to build demand for your business: 6 steps to take to generate more interest and sales

In marketing and business, we talk a lot about how to build demand for your services and solutions. In fact, larger marketing teams have dedicated professionals working specifically on demand generation. But what exactly does that mean?

Regardless of the tactics used, demand generation refers to any activity that drives awareness and interest in your offer. From the moment of awareness to the moment of purchase, every touchpoint with your audience can lead to increased demand.

Here’s how to take advantage of those touch-points to build demand and interest for your company.

The DOs and DON'Ts of automation

While you’re likely always going to have to do some things you don’t love in your business, if you’re spending all of your limited resources on tasks that are draining your energy, your motivation to work on your business is going to wane quickly.

Automation can support you in saving your time and energy, easily generating data, and improving customer or user experience. However, automation is also one of those things that can be a curse when done poorly.

Here are a few differentiating factors to help you determine what to automate, and what’s best left done manually.

What kind of support can you get for marketing your small business? An introduction to outsourcing marketing

Oftentimes there is frustration or aversion when it comes to marketing because entrepreneurs have fallen into marketing because they want a business, not because they enjoy marketing or have marketing expertise. And while I love to help “accidental marketers” find joy in marketing by making it easier for them, I also know that sometimes the best thing to do for your business is to outsource the tasks that are draining your time and energy.

When you allow yourself to let go of some of these tasks, you can instead focus on the activities that are within your zone of genius; working more “on” the business, instead of “in” it. Here are a few of the most common options for outsourcing marketing work.

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