The end of the year is notoriously known as the busiest time of the year for all industries. And it’s true for content creators and online entrepreneurs. People are online more in the colder seasons, and they tend to browse and shop much more than during off seasons like summer.
However, the end of the year is also the time when content creators and businesses are trying to finalize projects and prepare for the new year. That is why, the end of the year is the best time to review and reevaluate your business and maybe even make small adjustments to improve so you can enter the new year a step ahead.
7 small yet effective ways to improve your business by the end of the year
1. Update your old online courses
When was the last time you updated the curriculum and content for your online courses? It’s natural that once the online course is out to the world, you focus on the next thing, and your old courses might not get as much attention.
So the end of the year is a great time to return to your old online courses and see if there is anything you want to update, improve, or change. It can be a small change, like updating your sales page to include newer testimonials. Or, it can be a bigger change like transcribing your audio or video content and making it available as a PDF download to your students who prefer to read rather than watch a video or listen to an audio.
2. Create a new digital product
One of the key components of long-term success with your online business and as a content creator is diversification of your income and building multiple income streams. Online courses are a great income source, but you might also want to consider expanding your offer selection with digital downloads.
Digital downloads are a great way to diversify your income because they are fairly easy to create, and have low maintenance like all digital products. You can create digital products that complement your online courses and upsell them to your audience to improve average order value and increase your profits.
Teachable allows you to implement digital downloads with ease. You can create sales pages and upload digital products within a few minutes, and Teachable even handles the payments so you can focus on other parts of your business without stress.
There are many digital downloads you can create and sell:
- Ebooks
- Workbooks
- Email templates
- Spreadsheets
- Design templates
- Images
- Music and Audio
3. Ask for testimonials
Testimonials from your students are crucial for helping you make sales. They allow prospective students to see that your courses have value and that people who have taken them in the past have found success in their lives.
So, if it’s been a while since you reached out to your students to ask for testimonials and their success stories, there is no better time than the end of the year.
Ask your students to share their thoughts and feelings, and maybe even ask if they’d be willing to hop on a call with you or record a video for you, sharing their stories. It can be a very powerful marketing asset that you can share and include in your sales pages (only with your student’s consent of course).
4. Audit your social media accounts
If you are using social media to promote your business and connect with your audience, the end of the year is the best time to do a social media audit. It sounds more difficult than it truly is. In reality, a social media audit includes reviewing your social media platforms and evaluating what’s working and what’s not so you can alter your marketing strategy.
You might start by seeing which platforms are working the best for you. It’s natural to feel like you have to be on all social media platforms at once. But generally, experts recommend choosing two and mastering them before you try to promote on more platforms.
So, if you have been trying to use all the social media platforms available, maybe it’s time to reevaluate if that is not too much and if you might be better off downsizing. Consider what platforms bring you the most joy, where the majority of your audience is, and how effective those platforms have been so far. Then, make a decision.
Next, you might want to review your content and see which type has been performing the best. Once you determine which type of content speaks to your audience and brings the most engagement, consider creating more of that type of content.
5. Take advantage of the busiest season
As we already established, the end of the year is the busiest season for the majority of industries and content creators. There are many huge holidays and sales happening, and people are in the mood to shop and indulge.
So, consider participating in holiday sales that make sense for your business, like Black Friday weekend. Run some special limited-time offers like a discount on your online courses, give away a free digital product, or even offer discounted coaching services.
Also, you might want to double down on marketing your products during this busy season. Many people are online, looking to shop, so find ways to put your business out there, either by engaging your email list, posting more on social media, or investing in paid ads.
6. Consider AI
AI has taken the world by storm in the past year, and if you haven’t yet taken advantage of using it for your business, it might be a good time to consider it. AI tools can be super useful when it comes to helping with marketing materials or even your online course copy.
Teachable offers built-in AI tools that help you outline your online course, write summaries, and even create quizzes (amongst other things) which can be a huge help when creating a new online course. There are tools that help you write social media content and even email copy.
Even if you tried AI before and you didn’t find it helpful, give it another try. It’s a technology that’s always evolving and changing, and there is a learning curve to making the best out of what the AI tools have to offer. So, be patient and keep an open mind, you might be pleasantly surprised.
Play around with the different AI tools and figure out what works for you and your business as the year comes to an end. This way, by the time the new year comes around, you might have a new, and improved way of running your business.
7. Create a new lead magnet for your email
Your email list is an extremely powerful marketing and sales tool with an average ROI of $36 for every $1 spent. The end of the year is the best time to review your current email marketing strategy, or if you haven’t started an email list yet — start one!
To grow your email list effectively, you will need a lead magnet. It’s essentially a freebie that entices people to sign up to your email list. It can be anything, from a digital product to a discount code – whatever works with your business model and niche.
So, spend some time at the end of the year figuring out what your audience might be interested in from you, and see if you can create a lead magnet. Even if you already have one up and running, it’s always a good idea to create additional lead magnets that might resonate with a different part of your audience and help you attract more people to your list.
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