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 March
[DISCLOSURE: We may receive compensation for links to products on this website.]
TIP 1: Spring Cleaning for Growth
There isn’t a site online that couldn’t use a little dusting off and reorganization. Spring is a wonderful time to have a close look at yours and do some cleaning. You can start by visiting your website like you would if it belonged to someone else. Better yet, have a friend or two visit and give it an honest evaluation.
A few ways to start scrubbing are:
- Optimize your website to reduce the strain on resources like file limits
- Check/fix all links
- Check navigation
- Update information
- Reexamine keywords
- Remove, replace or add plugins
- Check for spammy content
Our 10 Spring Cleaning Tips and Tools for your Website or Blog will help guide your virtual broom.
TIP 2: Growth with Tariffs
The “Shop in Canada” movement has received a huge push as patriotic Canadians stand to fight tariffs. Canadian businesses have been taking full advantage of this with everything from new products, tools, and special promotions, to proudly declaring their company is Canadian in their marketing. Organizations are banding together to support and amplify the movement.
For example, you can get a free #MadeInCanada Social Sharing Kit with social media assets, along with stamps & badges from BC Food & Beverage.
Watch for lists and databases popping up to assist Canadian consumers who want to show their solidarity and support with their patronage. Add your Canadian company and show your support to others.
Following are a few we shared for those who want to Canadianize their online business tech stack:
HostPapa Canadian website hosting
PartnerStack Canadian SaaS affiliate network
Wave free Canadian accounting & billing software
Canadian businesses often need a kick to move them outside of their comfort zone. This is just the incentive we need to get out there and optimize our tech, increase our productivity, diversify our suppliers, support each other, and pressure our leaders for changes that facilitate the growth of businesses in this country.
“What is the difference between an obstacle and an opportunity? Our attitude toward it. Every opportunity has a difficulty, and every difficulty has an opportunity.” ~ J. Sidlow Baxter
TIP 3: Grow Your Gold with St. Patrick’s Day
There are many Canadians of Irish descent who celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, and even more who just like to celebrate it for fun. The largest concentration of Canadians claiming an Irish ethnic origin is found in Ontario (2.1 million), reports Statistics Canada. “British Columbia (675,130), Alberta (596,750) and Quebec (446,215) also have a significant Irish presence.
In the U.S., “Consumers plan to spend a record $7.2 billion — or an average of $44.40 per person — on the holiday this year [2024] and their top spending categories are food and beverages,” according to the National Retail Federation. “More so, a record 62% or 162 million Americans are planning to celebrate.”
Source: National Retail Federation
St. Paddy’s Day themes can be applied to a broad range of businesses and their product lines, such as:
- Practically anything that’s green
- Gold & money
- Luck related
- Irish food
- Alcohol
- Party supplies
“Food is especially important to the Irish,” says CanadianFamily.net. “Even now, many generations after suffering through times of starvation.”
For tips on catching these leprechauns for business growth, read Marketing to Canadians Who Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day.
TIP 4: Growth Suicide
When we consider ways to grow our business, we often focus on “do this, get that.” If we advertise, we’ll increase leads. If we do guest posting, we’ll grow traffic to our website. If we provide customer support, we’ll have happy customers.
What tends to be ignored are things we’re already doing. However, nothing works every time or for every business and nothing stays the same. This is the digital world! We have to test, learn and optimize, all day, every day.
Constantly evaluating the impact of website copy, social media ads, inbound media, and every other aspect of the customer journey will alert you when it’s time for a change. Unaddressed issues can quietly stunt your growth.
The following case studies serve as examples of companies that did take a closer look, and took action that got results. You can read more about them on Marketing Sherpa and MECLABS Institute.
Quick Case Study #1: How reframing professional headshot generator’s website copy turned angry users into compassionate customers to reduce negative reviews 95%.
Quick Case Study #2: How cashback program decreased Facebook ad CPL to 1/6th of original cost.
Quick Case Study #3: How low-quality backlink caused an 81% drop in search impressions for small website.
Businesses of all sizes often ignore anything that appears to be working fine on the surface. Even when it all comes tumbling down around them, they fail to see the real ways it could have been prevented. When it happens in huge corporations, it’s often because the numbers don’t expose it when profits are so high. In small businesses, however, one oversight can have a significant impact.
That’s why we hire departmental experts to watch over specific aspects of the customer journey. They know what to look for, and they understand how to optimize or correct issues. These experts don’t actually cost you money, they make you money. If you can’t hire fulltime staff at this point, consider contracting someone to have a look periodically.
TIP 5: Grow with Profitable Product Ideas
Online marketplaces can guide your product decisions & inspire ideas for new products, based on what’s currently trending at the consumer & wholesale level. Read 7 Online Marketplaces for Profitable Product Ideas to learn more.
Once you’ve compiled a list of possible products for your online store, you’ll need to take your market research a step further with a detailed market analysis. This involves researching marketplaces and ecommerce websites to determine trends, supply & demand, market saturation, and competitive pricing. Check the prices in Canadian online stores, auctions, and marketplaces like Amazon.ca.
When considering profit margins and prices for online sales, a general rule of thumb is to avoid low-priced products, as well as products that are priced so high they’ll be tougher to move.
“The retail price sweet spot is between $15 and $200. Anything less than $15 and you might be struggling to make enough money,” say the experts at Salehoo. “Anything over $200 is harder to sell (buyers have to think more about expensive purchases).”
For more on that, read Max Your Margins Online With These Profitable, Popular Products.
TIP 6: March 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.
Here are just a few March holidays & observances with promotion potential:
Athletic Training Month
Berries Month
Craft Month
Flower Month
Nutrition Month
Read an Ebook Month
Spiritual Wellness Month
Supply Management Month
March content themes and slants can include Spring, renewal, cleaning, flowers, luck, gold, and green. March holidays and observances in Canada include Daylight Savings Time (9th), Commonwealth Day (10th), St. Patrick’s Day (17th), and Spring/March Equinox (20th).
TIP 7: Business Books Worth Reading
Here we share quick quotes from business books we’re reading to help your knowledge grow with your business.
“Now, not everything in online marketing boils down to influencers, personalities, and vloggers, but let’s just say, from my perspective, they’re the most effective way to sell at this moment and will continue to be for a long time. While other traffic and sales-generation methods employed by today’s affiliates, such as SEO, online advertising campaigns, content writing, etc., also deliver significant value and results, if I had to choose the premier, the most effective traffic source for selling a product or service online, blindly, without hesitation, it would be content creators and influencers.” ~ How to Build and Manage an Affiliate Program or Affiliate Network: The “Holy Bible” of Affiliate Programs and Networks Across All Industries by Florin Simovici.
Watch for a full review of this book on Online Business Canada in March!
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 March? Please share your ideas or questions in the comments below, or join us in the Online Business Canada Facebook group.
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7 Recession Proof Online Businesses To Start From Home
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Melody McKinnon is an internet entrepreneur with 25 years of experience in a wide range of online business models, backed by a formal business/marketing 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 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.
WOOHOO! ALL PUMPED UP FOR SPRING! I’ll try some business tips to grow for the rest of the year. Great idea by the way — THANKS!
I’m always inspired in spring and your tips just motivate me more and inspire more ideas. I’m glad the ideas can be in place quickly or I can separate it into manageable steps.
XO Alice