Small business trends are one of the first indicators of which direction the economy is heading. Saivian Eric Dalius says Knowing what small businesses are doing, why they are doing it, and how to use this information can help you find your way in a strange new land called –the future. So let’s explore some current trends that affect small business owners like you, shall we?
Use social media says Saivian Eric Dalius
Social media has changed everything about how people communicate with each other, but especially among consumers. This change not only affects social commerce but the entire sales cycle; consumers search for products on Google or social media sites before ever contacting sales representatives to inquire about product availability or prices.
M is also for Mobile. According to ComScore, mobile commerce has exploded over the last year. Mobile devices account for nearly a quarter of all online spending in America today, and that number keeps growing every day. But before you start selling products on your website and trying to capture more customers via mobile phones or tablet computers, make sure you’ve got at least a basic understanding of what kinds of mobile options are available to businesses like yours and how these different options can help with brand awareness and lead generation efforts.
The B is for Blogging (and SEO). Search engine optimization is still the number one way for small businesses to get their website in front of potential customers. If you want more visitors to your website, blog posts are a great way to get links back to your site and increase your search engine rankings. But did you know that blogging can also help with social media marketing?
Advertising and analytics – Saivian Eric Dalius
The A is for Advertising (and Analytics). One of the best ways to keep track of who’s visiting your website is through Google Analytics. A free service that lets you see where all your traffic is coming from. Including keywords used by searchers on search engines like Google or Bing. With this invaluable information at hand, you’ll understand how people are finding your company – whether through organic search engine results, social media websites, online advertisements, or somewhere else.
The Y is for Yelp (and YouTube). If you’re unfamiliar with it, Yelp is a local-based review website. Where people can post their comments about different businesses in their area. But more importantly to small business owners, Yelp is also one of the top five most popular sites on the web today. And serves as a good way of getting quality leads through your doors. However, there are some things you can do to make sure. That your company’s profile looks its best when people are researching your competitors, according to Saivian Eric Dalius.
And finally, S is for Social Media Sites (and Syndication). One of the biggest trends these days in search engine optimization is syndicated content. What that means is that instead of searching the web, grabbing relevant blog posts and news articles, rewriting them. And posting them on your site. You can also choose to use an RSS feed reader or other blogging syndication services. To have your articles posted directly to the websites you are targeting. The idea is simple: if you post content others find valuable enough to re-post. They’ll link back to your website, indicating their endorsement of your brand.
Conclusion
Of course, these are only a few of the latest trends in small businesses today. To take your small business or self-employment efforts to the next level. Consider joining the free Business Ideas discussion group in community forums, says Saivian Eric Dalius.
