Your Creative Business this Springtime
Get your Creative Business summer -ready with a Business Spring Clean
While March is a month of wild storms and variable temperatures, spring is most definitely sprung. It’s the perfect time to refresh your creative business and get ready for a blooming season! Here are some tips to spring clean your business and set yourself up for a successful summer:
1. Freshen Up Your Marketing:
Give your website a makeover with new pics and content. Think about colour themes and link this to spring colours. You don’t have to lose your brand identity and brand colours; subtle additions of images can make all the difference.
Spruce up your social media with some spring-themed posts; at this time of year everyone is looking to push the winter blues behind them, so bright, positive, hopeful posts and associated images can perk up the mood and feel of your business and how this is communicated through social media.
Design some eye-catching flyers or postcards to spread the word. These are great to add to your product parcels or physical marketing campaign; paper still works to help potential customers get to know you.
2. Spring Sales & Fun:
Offer discounts or special deals to attract customers, and don’t forget your existing customers - reward them for their loyalty with a special spring programme or added-value offers.
Host a workshop or event to show off your skills and connect with your community. This can work well online and also in person, whatever your creative specialism is: run a family throwdown day if you are into pottery or working with clay; have a wine and watercoloour evening; try a poetry in the park afternoon one weekend…
3. Get Involved Locally:
Join in local events and markets to showcase your work. This is especially important if you are a creative that makes products or artworks and great opportunities to connect with local customers and to network with other creatives; from such events spectacular collaborations come.
Team up with other businesses for some cross-promotion…collaboration is usually far stronger and more productive than competition.
Volunteer with local organisations to give back and get your name out there.
4. Update Your Products:
Add new items or services to your offerings; spring is a great time to present your new creative outpourings to a world that is ready to greet the new. Plan ahead for a late spring or early summer launch but get the buzz going this spring.
Give your existing products a spring twist with new designs or features.
Say goodbye to products that are no longer selling. This is a particularly important part of spring cleaning your business. If it’s not working, let it go and give yourself the space and time and energy to invest in new products. Even old favourites may have had their time and your business needs you to respond to the market and its changing faces rather than hang on to old items that are past their best.
5. Customer Love:
Make sure your customers have a great experience every time they interact with your business. We all want to feel the love as the warmer days and longer evenings begin to make a difference in our lives. Emotional impact can be all the difference between a successful relationship with customers and having them walk away never to come back again. Keep your eye on the positive outcomes for them as well as for you.
Respond to messages quickly and fix any problems ASAP. This is all part of a good customer experience.
Amazing customer service will keep them coming back for more!
6. Look After Your Team:
Help your employees learn and grow. Spring is a good time to review what works and what doesn’t across your team, to encourage new ideas and foster positive attitudes, so think about investing in their skills and in engaging their support for your projects.
Offer fair pay and benefits.
Create a positive and supportive workplace.
7. Future Plans:
Review the goals that you set for yourself at the start of the year and see where you are. Are you on track as you planned, or have you veered off your path? Are there any barriers that cropped up that you hadn’t foreseen that you now need to overcome? Or have new opportunities emerged? Revise your goals and maybe set some new ones to take you through to the end of the year.
Make a marketing plan to reach your ideal customers linked to your review of your goals.
Review your budget to keep your finances on track.
Spring is all about new beginnings, so use this time to breathe new life into your creative business. With a little effort, you'll be blossoming in no time!
And if you would like a little support while you get something new going, we can be there to help you!
