It’s a new year, the perfect time to reset your business. Set up some time for these seven activities so that you start 2023 with less mess and more focus on your business goals.
#1 Make a plan
No surprise with this one; setting goals and mapping out how you will achieve them will give you a solid foundation to help guide you through the year. Without a plan, it can be challenging to be intentional with your time and efforts.
There are many ways to approach goal setting for your business, and downloading my free e-book would be a good place to start. However, you should have some revenue objectives and a viable plan to achieve them.
# 2 Do a website review.
If the last few years have taught us anything, it’s that a lot can change in a year. But think about what has changed in your business in the last year. Is your website up-to-date with your current services/pricing and branding message?
Other things to check:-
- Links: Do all the links on your website work, especially your social media ones? It is so annoying for customers if they don’t
- Sidebar and header items: Are they still relevant and promoting your most successful services and products
- Blog categories: Are they still appropriate, and are all your posts categorised correctly?
- Buttons: Do all your buttons lead to the correct pages, and are all forms on your site working correctly
- Pages: Are they all up-to-date (the new year is often an excellent time to be also looking at your pricing and if anything needs to change to remain profitable).
- Plug-Ins: Make sure your plugins are up-to-date
- Testimonials: Do you have any new ones to add to your website?
Like your website, you should also review whether your social media accounts are all up to date. Make sure all the information is up to date, including any new professional headshots and check your pinned articles are not dated.
Finally, check your Google page and any listings on sites such as ‘Yell’ to ensure a consistent online presence.
#3 Tidy up your files!
The beginning of the new year is the perfect time to get your files tidied up and organised. Your folders and files should be organised so that it is easy to find things. Get rid of any documents you no longer need or that your GDPR/privacy policy states you should no longer be holding. Take time to back up all your files and data to a cloud or an external drive (although, ideally, this is something you should be doing monthly anyway).
#4 Clear out your email lists.
Your email marketing lists need a regular clearout. This should be a minimum of a yearly review, but I recommend doing this quarterly.
Review all your email automation to make sure a) they still work and b) they are up to date and appropriate. Recheck any links (especially if you make changes to your website) and ensure that the graphics align with your branding strategy. If you have many different emails going out, plan to do this in phases (maybe once a week starting|beginning with your welcome sequence).
Do you have a lot of cold subscribers, the ones who never open your emails? It’s time to face the truth; they are not interested, so ditch them and focus on interested customers.
#5 Make your inbox a happy place.
A clear inbox will undoubtedly help you kick the year off right. Do away with newsletters you have saved but have yet to get around to reading (if you wanted to read them, you would have!). Unsubscribe from newsletters you don’t save for later, they are just filling your inbox with ‘junk’.
Just like tidying up your PC folders and files, organise your inbox folders to ensure you can easily find everything. Again delete anything you should no longer be kept under GDPR or your document retention policy.
I recommend scheduling some time (Friday afternoon, maybe) to have a quick email tidy-up. That way, things never get too out of control.
#6 Conduct a tools audit.
Are you paying for tools or services you are no lower using? In the current economic climate, every penny costs, so you want to avoid paying for a higher service package when a lower one gives you everything you use.
Are your tools the best solutions for your business? Technology is constantly evolving. If you signed up for a tool a couple of years ago, new technology might offer you more for less.
Another top tip is to set reminders about a month before your tools renew if you are on an annual subscription. That gives you time to research to see if other (cheaper/most effective) tools exist. Plus, it gives you time to cancel if you aren’t using the tool anymore.
#7 Reset your content calendar
Content creation can take up a small business owner’s time. So, think about how to work strategically by re-purposing previous content or resources.
If you don’t currently have a system for your content creation, start one asap. I use Trello to manage my content. Each card is a post or potential post, so I can see what I have completed, what is still in draft and what I have used before that could easily be re-purposed.
Bonus tip to help you reset your business for 2023
Eat the frog
You know the thing you keep saying you will do but never get around to it (for me, it’s my yearly accounts). If you have had something that keeps coming up on your to-do list, why not start the new year by eating the frog and getting it done?