Hi ,
Let's talk about pretty much no one's favorite topic as a business owner. That topic would be watching the data from your business. Please don't run! The truth is, watching your data at least a little bit helps you make more money more easily. So let's take just a peek.
Two kinds of data
There are two kinds of data generated from your business.
- Quantitative
- Qualitative (you'll probably like this one better).
What's the difference? One is easily measurable and one is not. But they both impact your business.
Quantitative (measurable data) includes things like these:
- Budget
- Profit margin
- Overhead or operating costs
- Life time value (LTV) of your customers
- Conversion rate (how often you make a sale compared to how many times you made that offer and were turned down)
Qualitative (not measurable) data still impacts your business, but isn't so easily measured - or is measured subjectively rather than by cold hard number. Things like:
- Team satisfaction (if you have a team)
- Brand recognition
- Testimonials you receive
- Customer relationships
- Relationships with colleagues and partners
- Your expertise
See what I mean? Big impact, but can't really come up with numbers.
Some large corporations put millions into data mining, and use that intelligence to plan their next offers to their customers. What can a smaller business do?
Pay attention to these quantitative data points as a start:
- How much traffic your landing page(s) are getting (organic and, if you are buying advertising, that too)
- How well your lead magnets are converting (page visits versus actual numbers of opt-ins from that lead magnet)
- Google analytics on your website.
That's at least a starting point, and it helps you make decisions. Google has many easy-to-read articles about how to use Google analytics (be sure it's set up on your websites).
On the qualitative side start by paying attention to and beefing up your testimonials, and noticing how much brand recognition you have.
The trick is to keep your CEO hat on and make a start, but don't overwhelm yourself. Do one at a time.
There you go - a way to take on something you might be avoiding, and benefit from the improvements to your cash.
We talk about things like this (as well as juice thought leader and leadership topics) in my CEO Circle Community. I've got a few spots open right now, so I suggest you check it out now.
To your sweet success,
Sue Painter
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