Most entrepreneurs start their business with a big idea to meet a need or serve their community. The business begins with passion and focuses on developing the products and services the company offers. Because of this, branding can often become something on the to-do list because you can’t operate without a logo. This may be hard to hear, but as important as it is to serve your community, you can’t do that without the strong foundation of an intentional brand. And just because branding is so crucial to your business doesn’t mean it can be effectively created from something like a Canva template. A company’s branding is so important that it probably should be developed by a professional. Let’s talk about exactly why this is the case.

The holidays are a busy time for almost everyone. There are countless parties, hours of shopping, and somewhere in there you’re supposed to take care of yourself and do all the things you do any other time of the year. For most of you, there’s the additional craziness of running your business during the holidays. It can be very easy for business owners to get overwhelmed with finishing the year, so we forget to plan for the upcoming year. This is your sign to deliberately make time to think about and set goals for your business come January. Like so many things, it’s better to do it on purpose rather than to just react to what happens to you. Let us walk you through all the steps you need to take to prepare for 2023.

Here’s a not-so-controversial opinion for you: social media is dumb. It may be surprising to see us write that since we so often emphasize how important social media is for your marketing plan, but it’s true. However, marketing is all about meeting your customers where they’re at, and most people are on one form of social media or another. So it’s helpful to look at sites like Facebook, Twitter, or even TikTok for what it is: a tool. It just so happens that the way you use this tool is by posting 80% polls, questions, or memes and 20% industry-related things. But we’re seeing some recent data showing how a particular kind of post can drive traffic to your website. Enter: memes.

We are fast approaching the time of year where hundreds of thousands of businesses are forced to compete with Amazon. This is the case all year, of course, but the competition is especially fierce during the holiday season. It’s just so difficult for anyone to beat the convenience of two-day shipping or the fact that shoppers can check everything off their list with just one order. That being said, we are seeing a HUGE movement of people preferring to shop at their local, small businesses. Last year, despite the pandemic, 70% of people shopped local. 55% of those shoppers purchased in-store. This is great news! Let’s talk about how we can keep that momentum going this holiday season.

You read the title right: by the time you’ve finished reading this, you will know how to make your business 10 times more likely to succeed. All you need is one thing: goals. We can hear the groaning already… “I set goals all the time! They just don’t work for me,” or “I already know what I want, why do I have to make it official?” If you’re having a hard time achieving your goals, you’re probably not setting them right. We’ll focus on professional ones here, but these tips apply to all types! Let’s walk through how to set your goals so you’ll actually achieve them.

When thinking about your full marketing plan, it can be easy to forget about blogs, especially if you’re not someone who frequently reads blog posts in your spare time. People usually think of other marketing options first. Here’s the reality: in order for your marketing to cover all the bases, nothing else serves the same purpose as a blog. So let’s talk about how a blog could be beneficial for your business.

Fair warning: You’re about to read a potentially jarring statement. We promise it’s good for you though, especially if you’re a business owner. We at Flourish like to work hard to bring you the best advice to help you run your business, even if it’s hard to hear. Are you ready? We sure hope so…

It’s time to start preparing for the holidays and the end of the year.

It’s true! If you’re reading this the day we posted it, it’s only the beginning of October. Sure, it seems like Halloween is still far away, but the holiday season is upon us. At least for business owners! It may not be time to decorate your home yet, but it certainly is the time to start preparing for what you’re going to implement in your business come November 1st.

If you’re running a small business, chances are you know you need to build a social media presence. It’s free, 80.9% of people in the US use it, and it’s an easy way to get your name out there. One thing’s for sure: it’s really easy to get caught up in your social media presence and forget about other forms of marketing. When you need to get your name out in the world, social media isn’t always the only answer! Let’s talk about some other ways to market your business.

If you’re someone who spends basically any time online, you’ve probably figured out that social media is constantly changing. It seems like every time we learn a platform and how to work with it, it changes again. 

One thing that has been rapidly changing over the last couple of years is video content. It’s practically taken over the world. YouTube grew exponentially when the pandemic hit, TikTok’s usership exploded, and the Metaverse is changing its entire platform to feature its video content. On average, audiences spend 19 hours per week watching videos online. At this point, ignoring video marketing isn’t really an option if you’re looking for ROI online. Sure, that type of content seems silly, and we’ve talked about why silly content is important on social media, but let’s apply that to videos!