It’s that time of year again! A new year is upon us and with it comes the opportunity to do something amazing. Often we personally make commitments or resolutions to better ourselves in the New Year, however, our businesses and professional lives are often left without fresh commitment. In the spirit of New Year’s consider the following New Year’s resolutions to take your digital business to the next level in 2014!
- Go Back to Basics:
Perhaps the first step before making a New Year’s business resolution is to stop for a moment and reflect on the state of your company. We dedicate valuable time and energy to craft our corporate strategy, vision and mission, but can lose sight, getting caught up in the day to day of running a successful digital business. This approach may be effective at maintaining the status quo, but opens the door to the risk of stagnation. This year ensure that you review your businesses’ core goals, vision and strategy. Understand where you need to go and make sure you are continually refining your approach to make certain you adjust for unforeseen obstacles and are positioned to capitalize on opportunities. - Look Your Best:
In today’s quickly changing world of digital business, we rely more and more on strong visual cues to communicate key points and value propositions. The simplification of messages and concepts through visual design is necessary, as customers are bombarded daily with ever increasing offers and information. In order to compete you need an updated look that supports a visually rich customer experience. When was the last time you redesigned your website, changed your graphics or altered a page layout? A new look can go a long way to re-energizing your online marketing efforts and improving customer engagement. As you review your yearly goals and strategy, ask if your current website and marketing materials can get you where you are going. If not, it is time for a new look! One key strategy is to use freelancers to design multiple page layouts and then ab test them to find out which one performs best with your customer base. Use the winning design to go live and you are on your way to a more prosperous 2014! 
Go Mobile: Mobile was big in 2013 and you can bet it will be even bigger in 2014. Consider that 70% of Facebook’s traffic came from mobile and according to Smart Insights, mobile browsing doubled on both tablets and Smartphone in 2013. Is your current company website responsive and optimized to engage and convert mobile visitors? Do you see an opportunity to grow revenue and build market share via a mobile app? These are all key questions you need to address in 2014. If you are first in your market to go mobile, you can gain vital market share. If you are last, the need is pressing. If you are unsure as to how to proceed, consulting with a freelance mobile application developer and/or freelance mobile marketing strategist can help you better understand your options. At the minimum your website must be easily viewable on mobile devices. If you know you want to build a native mobile app, it is crucial to hire the right mobile app designer and developer. But before you begin development, take the time to understand your market and which platform, ios or android, is best suited to engage your customer if you can build both. There are key differences in how you size and design your app depending on the platform. For example, do not get caught building your app for ios when 70% of your customers own android devices. In 2014 and beyond mobile will be at the forefront of every leading digital business.
Get More Done: Sometimes a change of pace is all that is needed to accelerate growth. You can have the best laid plans but in the end execution always wins. However, not every team has all of the pieces to execute a winning strategy. It is key to understand the strengths of your team and know how to supplement and empower them and your business to reach new heights. Smart CEO’s are learning how to leverage a global digital workforce to support their growth. New opportunities for increased business efficiency are many and varied. Forward thinking digital business owners use freelancers to tackle low value digital tasks to keep key team members focused on high value wins. This goes beyond the traditional use of freelancers for highly technical and specialized skills. Lean business tactics like this can give you an edge in terms of production without the financial risk of a full-time hire. Getting more done with strictly controlled budgeting is a must in 2014 and freelancers are one way to efficiently stretch your budgets.- Give Back
: Is your business known for socially responsibility? Are you involved with local or national charitable organizations? Giving back is not only a strategy that feels good but it also produces results. Consumers engage with companies who are giving back such as the one-for-one buying promise of many recently successful brands such as Tom’s shoes and Warby Parker’s eyeglasses. A culture of giving and social responsibility does more than just rejuvenate the morale of the company; it can also be a huge boost to your bottom line. Companies that are socially active benefit from increased brand awareness and can get the sale when compared to a company that is not socially active. According to a Cone/Echo Global CR Opportunity Study 52% of global consumers are more likely to recommend a brand that supports a good cause over one that does not. Even more interesting is that 42% say that if a product is of the same quality and price, commitment to a social purpose is more important than factors like design, innovation and brand loyalty when making a choice. It is really simple – people want to feel good when making a purchase! These are powerful motivators to make 2014 a great year to give back while attracting new and more loyal customers at the same time.
There are many exciting opportunities that can be represented as New Year digital business resolutions. Regardless of which resolution makes the most sense for you and your company, the most important thing is to act. Assess what resources you require to put these resolutions into action. If you do not have all the talent you need consider using a freelance platform like MyCrowd or Odesk to locate the talent you need. Good luck and wishing you great success in the New Year!
