By Staff Writer

There are lots of articles all talking about how you can do this and do that and you’ll get the business that you’ve always dreamed of. Fact is, that there is no silver bullet, but after 20+ years of experience, I’d be able to hazard a better guess at how you can grow your business faster.

So here are 5 ways you can at least focus some of your efforts that will give you a maximum pay off and quick(er) time than randomly putting all your eggs in one basket and praying that it pays off.

Maximise Social Media

Without a doubt, social media is one of the most powerful and deadly marketing tools on the planet. It reaches out to hundreds upon thousands of people at once. Make sure your business is engaged in social media. And by engaged I mean engaged. Don’t just try and flog your course, your workshops , your products or services. This helps you stay relevant and a business ran by a human not a corporation.

Listening to people and reading their comments will give you an idea on how to make them feel more satisfied. You will also understand their behaviour and find a way to meet their demands. The best part is that you won’t have to spend a lot of money just to attract new customers. You don’t need to engage in comment wars though. Just keep it positive and make everyone feel that they are heard.

Focus on Professional Development

The success of your business also depends on the quality of employees that you hire or the ‘success team’ you surround yourself with. Building a successful team is the key to ensuring that your business prospers.

In fact developing this one around you, your employees ab yourself is probably the quickest way to have a more successful business. Having a better team just equals a better business for your customers and clients. FACT!

One of the best ways to have motivated employees who work hard is to give them a sense of purpose. They should not just feel like they have to work for the sake of working.

They want to belong to something bigger than themselves. They must understand the bigger goals. This is where branding comes in. Many mistakenly believe that branding is something you do to attract customers. However, a powerful brand will also help you draw quality workers and businesses that want to work with you, to your business.

Your employees should also feel that they are heard. There are team-building activities that could help them perform well as individual employees and through collaborative tasks. You should also send them to training sessions and seminars so that they can improve on the current bank of knowledge that they already have.

Spend Time Attending Networking Events

If given the chance to join these events, take it. This is the opportunity to expand your professional and personal network. This is highly important – but it is something many entrepreneurs neglect. You must build relationships with other people.

Networking is a great way to connect with people who can help you build your business. You can find employees, more customers, and even investors…as well as life long friends that will be there through good times and bad.

Focus on Corporate Social Responsibility

This is a biggie and has been proven to make a difference when it comes to working with or purchasing from businesses.

Your business must have something it is passionate about. This helps in improving the image of your business. People will come to you because they know that the money they are spending goes to the right causes and is something they and you are passionate about. It’s a way of paying ‘it’ forwards.

It is important that you ensure your business exists for more than just making money. Nowadays, people want to feel emotionally connected to the companies with whom they do business. This is why it’s important to craft a unique brand perspective for your company.

Is there are cause you wish to support?

Is there something in the world you want to change?

Let that be one of your company’s missions.

Understand Your Customers

You can only develop services and products that will be a huge hit if you are attentive to the needs of your customers and prospects. One way to understand exactly what your customers want is through research and surveys. Ask the people that you want to serve, what they really need, not what you think they want.

You should be constantly inviting them to provide honest, even brutal feedback. Reviews and surveys are the best ways to get inside the mind of your customers. This makes it easier for you to develop products and services that are suitable to the current demands of the market. Moreover, it helps you understand the areas in which your company needs to improve.