With the start of the new year, it’s time to amp up your small business. Here at Ripl, we’ve found a few articles that can help you be prepared for the new year…
1. “5 tips for presenting your work on social media” by Emily Gosling, Creative Bloq
If you’re a photographer or artist, you need to present your craft on social media well. The Creative Bloq recommends considering what social media channels you want to show your work on, embracing your playful side, using high-quality images, introducing variety in your work, and showing yourself behind the scenes.
2. “How Can Your Small Business Give Back?” by Bruce Hakutizwi, Business 2 Community
If you’re looking to make a positive impact on your local community, this article outlines multiple ways small businesses can give back to their community. Some of our favorite suggestions are donating to nonprofits, reducing your environmental footprint, allowing your staff to volunteer, helping other local businesses, and support local youth sports.
3. “Pinterest predictions: Top trends we’re excited about for 2020” by Darcel Rockett, Chicago Tribune
Pinterest recently released its top predicted trends of 2020. Of these, the Chicago Tribune is particularly excited for gender-neutral clothing, more conscious shopping habits, an increased interest in health & wellness, gardening, international trends, pampered pets, eco-friendly travel, space, and nostalgia for the 1990s.
4. “Is This The Beginning of Amazon’s Meltdown?” by Stephen McBride, Forbes
Along with Nike, over a million businesses have pulled their products from Amazon. With new technology that allows small businesses to create their online stores, more businesses are choosing to use platforms like Shopify to sell their products instead of relying on Amazon.
5. “4 New Years Resolutions Your Business Should Make” by Syed Balkhi, Entrepreneur
Everyone makes personal resolutions for the new year, but have you made one for your business? Entrepreneur recommends making these 4 resolutions: providing 5-star customer service, boosting your marketing efforts, boosting your business’s productivity, delegating more tasks to your team, and setting SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely) goals for the new year.
6. “The Year Ahead: Neighbourhood Stores Return” by Business of Fashion Team + McKinsey & Company, Business of Fashion
Despite the hype about online shopping, the trend to shop locally has increased over the past year. For fashion especially, 70% of purchases are still made offline. Major corporations are even creating smaller brick and mortar stores with a “local” feel to cash in on this trend. Read more about how localized shopping is expected to take over in 2020.
7. “Writing a Great Social Media Bio for Your Brand [Infographic]” by Andrew Hutchinson, Social Media Today
With the new year, it’s a great time to update your social media bios! Social Media Today provides a great infographic with a few steps to rewrite your social media bio.
8. “How to Write Persuasive Instagram Ads, Captions, and Bios” by Carmine MastroPierro, Social Media Examiner
Marketing on Instagram is a powerful way to bring attention to your small business. However, you need compelling captions and bios to attract customers. Social Media Examiner recommends that for captions you should ask a question that a user is thinking, offer a discount, use testimonials, talk about benefits, create a sense of urgency, use a branded Instagram hashtag, answer objections ahead of time, and make a clear value proposition.
