Happy New Year! 2015 represents a whole new year of possibilities for your business…so now what? The year is off and running, so we’ll start you with a quick checklist to make sure your marketing is on point from day one.

5 Things Every Business Should Do For Marketing In The New Year

1. Read Your Website
When was the last time you reviewed your own website? Take the time to comb through your website, enjoying the glory of reading how awesome you are. Now take a closer look. Are you presenting the most current version of your business?
-Are products/services still accurate?
-Are the right employees listed?
-Is all contact information up-to-date? Did you test it to be sure?
-Is your social media linked?

2. Social Media Spot-Check
How are your social media accounts working for you? Do you have appropriate descriptions written for each account? Do they hit good keywords? Are you actually using your accounts? If you’re a business serving other businesses, LinkedIn is a no-brainer. Go back and read up on our article about how to Spring Clean Your LinkedIn Profile.

3. Commit to a Content Schedule
Great! You have some social media, hopefully you have a blog. Now how often are you committing to posting? Set something doable – I don’t want you to move mountains here. Commit to a reasonable schedule for your resources. Perhaps you start quarterly with the blog post and 3x week on Twitter, for example. Not sure what you want to do? Call me and we’ll figure it out, but commit. The key to being heard is to be consistent about it. Just like any other appointment, write it on your calendar. A steady stream of content will help build your public profile as an expert on your topic and will do wonders for you in the long-term.

4. Reach Out To Someone New
Goodbye, comfort zone! The best way to build new business is to meet new people. Find a networking event and plan to go. One you wouldn’t normally go to. Perhaps one not even in your industry. Promise yourself that this is the year you’ll get yourself in front of some new faces. I practice what I preach – this morning I attended my first SCORE Women’s Breakfast and it was awesome. (If you’re a woman in business in San Diego, drop me a line and I’ll go with you next time!) I left full of ideas and a handful of business cards I wouldn’t have gotten if I’d spent my morning with my laptop and Keurig.

5. Set a NEW Goal
Don’t be afraid to fail, and don’t feel you have to do it perfectly. The fact that you’re trying it at all puts you a big step ahead of others. Some ideas:
–Explore video content. We shared tips on better business video marketing content here.
–Try on a new form of social media
–Create a new, updated marketing plan
–Refresh or redesign your website

What will you do differently this year to get different, better results??

Still not sure? Get in touch and we’ll help you plan for a bigger, brighter 2015. That’s the thing about marketing – any step you take is a step forward. Believe it.