Running a small business is a lot of work, and the many roles within the business typically fall on just a single individual or a small group of people. It is essential to find ways to get the most out of everything you do to ensure you’re maximizing your time.
Fortunately, there are certain online tools at your disposal, and it can be very helpful to make use of them.
Online surveys
First up is software that allows you to create an online survey. Online surveys are a great way to get customer feedback on products and services, as well as potential products and services to get a pulse on how they may be received if launched.
Conducting surveys with your existing customer base will provide an accurate overview of what is selling well and what isn’t, or what needs altering or upgrading. Online surveys are highly cost-effective, and customers are more likely to respond when receiving surveys from businesses they already support.
Surveys can fill your need for market research without the expense, time, and frustration of traditional market research. Additionally, you can use the surveys to gather fun information, engage with your customers virtually, and maintain an ongoing relationship with them.
Not every marketing effort will result in immediate sales. However, keeping your name in front of your customers will ensure that when they are ready to buy, they go to you first.
Online photo storage
Another important resource for any business is online photo storage. A photo storage service allows you to safely organize and store your product photos in a way that will make it easy for you to pull them up when you need to. It also allows you to store and retrieve customer submitted photos, photo content for social media or your website, and plenty more.
As your company grows, you will need an expansive library of images to keep your website and social media accounts fresh and updated regularly. While this may not seem like a tremendous task when you get started, it will eventually become one. You’ll find yourself sorting through folder after folder for that one photo you remember taking.
Sorting and storing photos in an online database makes utilizing them easy and efficient. You won’t find yourself wasting time or getting frustrated when launching your new product line or scheduling out your social media posts for the month.
Similarly to surveys, you can improve online engagement with your customers if you have adequate photo storage options. For example, you can hold contests online that involve people posting photos of them using your products or their favorite products. You can then use those photos later in promotional material. Having quick access to all your photos will let you get creative in how you use them to promote your business and engage with customers.
Using a photo storage solution also ensures your photos do not get lost. Many small businesses use external hard drives, flash drives, or even their computer files to store pictures. Using physical storage options can be very dangerous because it doesn’t take much for those photos to get lost forever. Online storage ensures that your photos will never be lost; they’ll always be there when you want them.
Online storage saves the misfortune of your computer crashing or an external storage device getting lost or broken. Online solutions also provide a level of security that you can’t get when you store your photos in-house.
