About This Column
This monthly column 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 a 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.
Grow Your Canadian Small Business Online in June
Summer shows up in June, both on the calendar and outside. Consumers are busy having fun and that can mean slow sales, but it doesn’t have to be that way. These bite-size tips reveal fast ways to grow your Canadian small business online this month.
[DISCLOSURE: We may receive compensation for links to products on this website.]
TIP 1: Learning to Grow
Education and earning go hand in hand, whether it’s an individual or business. The University of Pennsylvania has several free courses and certifications available to entrepreneurs, including Entrepreneurship 3: Growth Strategies.
Modules include:
- Acquiring Customers and Forecasting Demand
- Marketing and PR
- Cost Structures, Pricing, and Tracking
- Creating and Scaling Company Culture
If summer is slow at your company, it’s a great time to do some training and encourage skill development. Find a few online courses that will bring value to your business and employee careers. Authorize learning time during business hours when employees aren’t busy with other work. Consider bonuses or other forms of recognition for those who earn high scores or complete all recommended courses.
TIP 2: Online Growth in Economic Downturns
“The internet provides numerous ways to help businesses grow in any economic climate,” says the book, 7 Recession Proof Online Businesses to Start From Home. “You can quickly and easily redirect your content and marketing towards savings and economical options. Instead of throwing money at expensive offline advertising that may or may not reach your ideal customer, digital companies can use laser-targeted online campaigns to improve their results. That alone can cut the cost of customer acquisition in half.”
Keep your finger on the pulse by paying close attention to industry news, along with trends emerging on social media. Quite often, it’s a simple matter of monitoring and analyzing keywords with a tool like Semrush, as well as listening to your customers and analyzing website traffic.
Things do shift during a recession and that can trickle down to you. For example, if you’re a virtual assistant agency that works with a lot of individuals (such as authors), they may not be able to afford you for awhile. However, if you level up to small businesses, they might be cutting full time, in-house staff and will need a virtual assistant to pick up the slack when required.
Shift your marketing to target your new customer avatar until the economy improves. If it has proven profitable with no indication of slowing down, add this new customer profile to your marketing strategy to broaden your customer base.
Once you’ve identified the changing needs of your target market, you’re ready to help them cope.
Related Reading: 10 Tips to Recession-Proof Your Online Business
TIP 3: Optimize Summer Ad Revenue
Whether it’s affiliate advertisers or private sponsorship, focusing on summer themes and categories can bring in traffic and increase advertising revenue. For example, we offset the “summer slump” on business-to-consumer (B2C) sites by focusing on ads in travel, home cooling, gardening, outdoor living, and activities for kids. On business-to-business (B2B) sites, we go to that site’s customer avatar and ask ourselves how their business needs change in summer.
Once you’ve narrowed it down to a few advertisers, contact their affiliate/ad managers and ask them what their best selling products are during a typical summer. Then, create content or marketing funnels that are specifically designed to promote those products. It’s a great way to come up with content ideas that will be a good use of your time.
Related Reading: The Best Affiliate Program Categories for Sizzling Summer Sales
TIP 4: News & Events
A new study from Forrester predicts Canadian online retail sales will reach $83 billion by 2028. Global e-commerce will approach $7 trillion.
Collission Growth Summit (Ontario) brings together the founders and leaders of the world’s highest-growth companies. Learn from their experiences in running a high-growth startup, managing scale, funding, and surviving the day-to-day running of their companies. June 17th-20th, 2024, at Enercare Centre, Toronto.
TIP 5: June Content
Grow your traffic, grow your business! Timely content can differentiate your business while generating traffic that converts. Following are a few ideas for June.
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.
Here are just a few June holidays & observances:
Camping Month
Candy Month
Country Cooking Month
Entrepreneurs “Do It Yourself” Marketing Month
Great Outdoors Month
Homeownership Month
Men’s Health Education & Awareness Month
Professional Wellness Month
Women’s Golf Month
Social “Petworking” Month
June content themes and slants can include summer, growth, change, warmth, travel, and the outdoors. Father’s Day is on June 16th, 2024. June Solstice is on June 20th.
TIP 6: Business Books Worth Reading
Online business is in a perpetual state of evolution. The best way to grow in that environment is to become a perpetual learner. Every month, we’ll share quick quotes from business books we’re reading. Share your own favourites in the comments below.
“You may never out-scale the giants in your space, but you can out-human them. Your email system is meant to build relationships at scale and cement your business as the go-to resource in the hearts and minds of your customers. Serve your customers with humanity and empathy, and you will win!” ~ Robbie Fitzwater (mktgrhythm.com) in The Most Amazing Marketing Book Ever: More Than 350 Inspiring Ideas, by Mark Schaefer & Friends
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 June? Please share your ideas or questions in the comments below, or join us in the Online Business Canada Facebook group.
For weekly inspiration, insights, tips, and resources, sign up for the Online Business Canada newsletter!
7 Recession Proof Online Businesses To Start From Home
Expert help to choose, start, and run a successful online business!
“Almost 200 pages of pure gold…”
GET IT ON AMAZON
Or Other Major Ebook Retailers
——————————————
© CanadiansInternet.com – Content on this website may not be used elsewhere without expressed permission. Thank you for respecting the effort that we have put into our original content.
DISCLOSURE:Â We may receive compensation for links to products on this website. Â As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Our content is provided for informational purposes only and does not guarantee results.
Melody McKinnon is an internet entrepreneur with 25 years of experience in a wide range of online business models, backed by a formal business education and enhanced by training and mentorship. She has owned or managed both educational and ecommerce websites. Her book, 7 Recession Proof Online Businesses to Start From Home, is available from all major ebook retailers.
Melody has worked with many businesses & brands in a multitude of capacities. She can often be found on CanadianDigitalMedia.com, CanadiansInternet.com, CanadianFamily.net, and AllNaturalPetCare.com, as well as other quality digital publications. Her content has earned reference links from highly-respected websites, magazines and university textbooks.
Keep it up! Loving this new column and how it inspires me to get off my butt and do SOMETHING for growth every month. Time gets away from me when someone isn’t on me 24-7. The learning isn’t as intimidating this way too. What will you inspire next month? We’ll see!!
I’m still waiting to “break even” as it were LOL but growth strategies still work. I’m just more focused on getting online started for now. I hope to do more growing starting next season.
I ‘stock’ lots of summer stuff with dropshipping so no risk of it not being sold by fall. I couldn’t do it otherwise but the stock I keep here always sells. I tested it first like you advise 😀
June is my favourite month so thanks for all these places to put my enthusiasm to work! I should probably take a vacation this year for the first time in SIX but there’s always work to do and I love it!
I just want to say thanks for the online learning idea. I think my staff (remote) will respond well and it helps the company as well. If they do I’ll buy a membership to a remote learning site and offer it permanently. I love to see people grow!