Nathan 
Small business owners have enough on their plate. The last thing they need to be doing is stressing out over how they can up their game. Luckily, there are a lot of easy things they can do. Below are seven different ways small businesses can up their game.
1. Use Several Social Media Sites
Asides from Facebook, Twitter and possibly Instagram, which social media sites are you using regularly? Small businesses and even large businesses, tend to stick to the big three social sites. However, it’s in your best interest to join and use several social media sites.
Of course you should be using the three previously mentioned sites, but use other ones too. This includes Whats App, Tagged, Ello and MySpace. Don’t forget about Snapchat. A lot of people consider Snapchat and Whats App chat apps, but they are social sites. The more social media sites you use, the more customers you will potentially attract.
Don’t join social media sites, use them for a week or two straight and then forget about them. Use them a few times per week to connect with prospective customers. The more sites you use and the more you use them, the higher your chances are of attracting new customers.
2. Create YouTube & Facebook Videos
Don’t underestimate the power of videos. We all love watching video, but many small businesses don’t bother creating videos for YouTube or Facebook. They think they can’t create videos for the niche or industry they work in or they don’t have time; Or they will create a few videos and call it quits because they don’t think they are getting enough views. The list of reasons go on and on.
A good way to come up with ideas is to put an hour or two aside. Then jot down topics, words etc. . . that are associated with your business/industry. After that, you can create sub-topics and then create videos on those sub-topics.
For example, let’s say you run a hair salon. You can jot down topics/words/etc. . . Such as scissors, hairspray, specific hairstyles, news related to the industry and things of that nature. Then you can create sub-topics, such as brands of scissors and hairspray. Next, you can create videos such as “top 10 scissors hairstylists should be using,” or “best hairsprays for your hair,” and the list goes on and on.
What small business owners should do is create 2-3 videos per week. Videos should be no longer than 3-5 minutes. Once created, they can be uploaded to YouTube and Facebook.
Do 2-3 videos weekly and stick with it for the next 3-5 months. Include a link to your business’s website or mention your business’s address in every single video. Who knows, you could end up generating a lot of new business via your videos.
3. Blog With SEO In Mind
Do you have a blog? You might have a website, but no blog. If this sounds like you, then you need to setup a blog today. Create a blog and post to it 3-4 times per week.
After your blog is created, research keywords and make a list of moderately competitive keywords you will eventually target. Ideally, you’ll want a list of 10-15 keywords that are relevant to your industry and/or business. That’s the magic number to aim for because you’ll create one article per keyword, meaning by the end of a given month you’ll have 10-15 articles on your blog. Do this every single month and before you know it you’ll have dozens and dozens of articles.
However, do make sure you blog with SEO in mind. Place your chosen keyword throughout your article 1-2 times every 100-150 words. Include 2-3 outbound links to reputable sites and then share your blog post’s link via social media. Make sure to optimize titles and use appropriate meta-tags.
As for content length, try to make each blog post 500-1000 words long. At the end of each blog post, include a link to one of your own website’s pages Make sure the page you link to is relevant to the blog post, otherwise you can forgo this task.
4. Setup An Affiliate/Referral Program
An affiliate program or referral program is when you pay a commission/referral fee to someone who has referred a customer to you. A lot of small businesses don’t take advantage affiliate programs because they don’t know how to set up a program or they don’t understand the benefits. If you set up an affiliate program, then you’ll need to use a platform that can be used to create your program.
Decide what platform you want to sell your products/services. If you have digital products, then join ClickBank or JVZoo. Affiliate Window is another good option to go with and they are good to use if you have physical products you sell. Once you are setup, you’ll be a vendor and affiliates will promote your products/services, if they are interested.
When your products/services are ready to be promoted, you should reach out to social media influencers. Mention they can promote your products/services via the platforms you’ve joined. Also, try to be as generous as possible with your commissions; As long as you still make a little bit of a profit, then it’s fine to offer large commissions to affiliates.
Another tip is to create a new digital product with the purpose of having affiliates promote it. This will create new revenue for your business. In turn, you could end up reaping large amounts of profits.
5. Build An Email List
Use social media, squeeze pages and video marketing to build an email list. Having an email list can take a small business from where they are currently at to a whole new level they never thought they would achieve. Also, ask customers to subscribe to your email list and then separate your contacts by prospective customers and current customers.
You can mail past customers and current customers with targeted offers. You can send prospective customers a series of emails, with the aim of gaining their trust. Eventually you might turn them into paying customers.
6. Reach Out To Influencers
As previously mentioned, you should reach out to influencers to see if they want to promote your products in exchange for a commission, if their efforts result in sales. However, you can and should reach out to them, even if you don’t have an affiliate program set up. If you’re willing to spend a little bit of money, you can pay influencers to mention your business or promote you to their followers.
7. Run Contests
Lastly, run contests because this is one of the quickest ways to generate buzz for your business. Small businesses can quickly have the word spread about their company and they can grow their social media following fast when they run a contest. Decide what you want to give away and figure out what the terms/conditions should be in regards to the contest. Then you can launch it.
If you own a small business, then you should do the above. By upping your game, you’ll become more competitive, generate more traffic to your website and/or brick-and-mortar business. The sooner you implement the above tips and advice, the sooner you’ll take things to a whole new level.
