About This Column
This monthly column on Online Business Canada is intended to inspire action. You know digital transformation is critical to growing your business, but there are so many moving parts and so much to learn! It’s easier to navigate if someone points you in the right direction so you can take the first steps. You don’t have to master anything right now, you only need to move forward and learn as you go.
If one growth tip doesn’t work for your business, pick another one and try that. If you do that over the course of a year, you may be surprised at how much your business has grown and how clear your path is to further growth. A custom strategy will naturally emerge from your efforts, all from trying something new every month.
Content for this column will vary from month to month. We’ll cover what’s trending, motivation, tools, diversification, funding, actionable Canadian data, expert quotes, and how & where to grow your business online over the following month. New posts will be announced in our newsletter, so sign up to ensure you don’t miss a single month of growth.
[DISCLOSURE: We may receive compensation for links to products on this website.]
Grow Your Canadian Small Business Online in February
TIP 1: Grow With Love
“You can give without loving, but you can never love without giving.” ~ Robert Louis Stevenson
Love & romance can be a very profitable category online, any time of year. Whether it’s for Valentine’s Day, an anniversary gift, or ‘just because you’re you’, we truly enjoy buying special gifts for those we’re in love with. Additionally, there are opportunities for those targeting people who have yet to find love and romance.
The following online business and product ideas have proven to be the most profitable for us and our community in the romance category. Plug into your romantic side and brainstorm more ideas.
1. Info Products
2. Affiliate Products
3. Print-on-Demand Products with Dropshipping
4. Personalized Products
5. Romantic Bundles
Learn how in Romance Revenue: 5 Ways to Earn Money Online with Love.
TIP 2: Grow With Winning Products
Whether you’re looking for popular products to add to your physical inventory or drop shipping, selecting products that have a good chance of being profitable best sellers is a perpetual challenge. It can also cost you time and money, which inhibits growth. What if you could pick more winning products right out of the gate?
Luckily, there are a variety of marketplaces online that can guide your decisions, based on what’s currently trending at the consumer and wholesale level. Marketplaces are also an endless source of inspiration if you develop your own products from scratch or bundle items into a unique offering. Additionally, you’ll come up with similar products or accessories to sell so you can ride the trend with less competition. If you use wholesale sources, you’ll also be able to find products that are gaining popularity but aren’t saturated yet.
Start with these 7 Online Marketplaces to Find Profitable Product Ideas.
You’ll also find some great tools to guide your search for best sellers. For example, the (free) World Winning Products Search Tool lets you select a country and unlock access to trending, high-demand products for your ecommerce/dropshipping business.
TIP 3: Grow With Better Business Writing
I spend a lot of time monitoring AI’s impact on marketing, especially in regards to content. Nobody is sure where AI will take us or what that will mean for tasks like search optimization. There are a few indicators that appear to be a step in the right direction, such as branding and answering questions within stellar content. Marketers are focusing on discovery and awareness stages, while adjusting their sales funnels accordingly.
With so much uncertainty, we can’t go wrong with a content audit and overhaul. Top quality answers pulled from your content are your only hope of organic traffic in today’s AI world. Polish your current content and set higher standards for content production going forward. Bring branding and brand guidelines into those standards.
There has never been a more critical time to put your best foot forward. If you didn’t have a content strategy before, now is the time. If you already have one, start modernizing it. If you don’t have an amazing content manager, hire one as soon as possible.
Note: Remember to hire for talent as much as knowledge for this role, because the best content strategists and producers have both.
There are some fantastic writing tools out there that can help your content shine. Practical Ecommerce recently shared the Best Writing Tools for Business in 2026 with lots of suggestions for you to consider.
TIP 4: Grow Your Business with AI Services
Demand for AI services is already climbing as businesses try to navigate, adopt and utilize everything AI can and will do.
“One-third of small business owners are already using AI, and another 27% plan to adopt it in 2026,” says Constant Contact in their Small Business Marketing Predictions for 2026. “They’re using AI to analyze data trends (45%), create campaigns and content (44%), and develop visual assets (40%). In 2026, AI won’t be a novelty—it will be a foundational capability.”
You can launch a business specializing in AI services, or add AI services to expand those you’re currently offering. For example, if you provide digital marketing services you could add AI SEO/AEO/GEO. If you have a law firm, you can specialize in AI law, policies and governance.
“What new technology does is create new opportunities to do a job that customers want done.” ~ Tim O’Reilly
How can you modernize & monetize the services you offer with AI? Here are the 11 Best AI Services to Offer Online to inspire you.
Speaking of AI, Google has released Gemini Prompting Guide 101, a quick-start handbook for effective prompts.
TIP 5: February Content
Grow your traffic, grow your business! Timely content can differentiate your business while generating traffic that converts.
Note: We post a list of holidays & observances (monthly, weekly and daily) for marketers in the Online Business Canada Facebook group. There’s a lot of them! You’re bound to find some that are a perfect fit for you business.
- Children’s and Pet Dental Health Month
- Free & Open Source Software Month
- Responsible Animal Guardian Month
- Senior Independence Month
- Time Management Month
- Weddings Month
February content themes and slants can include cold, family, love, romance & relationships, chocolate, hearts, and provincial/national pride. February holidays and observances in Canada include Valentine’s Day on the 14th, and National Flag of Canada Day on February 15th. On the 16th we celebrate Family Day (AB, BC, NB, ON, SK), Louis Riel Day (MB), Nova Scotia Heritage Day, and Islander Day. Yukon Heritage Day is on February 20th. The U.S. celebrates Washington’s Birthday on the 16th.
TIP 6: Business Books Worth Reading
Here we share quick quotes from business books we’re reading to help your knowledge grow with your business, and your business grow with your knowledge.
“… the perfect content marketing strategy does not exist. There is no template. Thus, once you begin, there is no finish. There is no ‘move on to the next thing.’ The most successful content marketing strategies are built with one thing in mind. Change.” ~ Content Marketing Strategy: Harness the Power of Your Brand’s Voice, by Robert Rose.
Incremental Change
Changes spread out over the year will combine into powerful results. When growth based on technology overwhelms us, we can make small changes to continue growing and develop further as we feel our way through it.
How will you grow your online business in February? Please share your ideas or questions in the comments below, or join us in the Online Business Canada Facebook group.
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Last Updated on February 28, 2026 by Melody McKinnon, Online Business & Marketing Manager
