What should you be doing every week to grow your online business | weekly entrepreneur tasks

What should you be doing every week to grow you online business?

Entrepreneurs, freelancers, online business owners… gather round everyone, ‘cause this conversation applies to all of you!

Today we are going to go over the extra things you should be doing every week in addition to your regular tasks in order to grow your online business

Now, those of us who don't work a traditional 9-5 job will know that an outrageous amount of time spent working on our business isn't actually related to the products/services that we’re focused on.

For example, you'd think that as a web designer/developer I spend most of my time building and designing websites. LOL nope! While that's definitely how I spend a lot of my working hours, there's a whole lot more to my business than that. Think: content creation, social media, marketing, accounting, promotion, etc. That’s something that surprises many of us when we start out on our own, just how many hats we will have to wear in order to grow a successful business!

Obviously, you are going to do the work directly related to your business. This could mean delivering services to your clients, creating/updating products, hosting events, whatever. But your work also includes marketing the business, content creation, continuing education, emails, etc.

If you’re on my site and reading my blog posts, I’m guessing your goal isn’t just to stay afloat - you're here to thrive in business. That’s why it’s SO important to consider the other business related activities that will help you grow and reach new milestones as an entrepreneur!

These are things I do every week and they have been vital to my success in business so far. I consider them non-negotiables of the best sort and I'm excited to share them with you today!

Let's take a look.

1. Plan ahead

Every week, I check in on my goals (monthly, quarterly and annually). My goals are written out all over the place and I like to keep them clearly visible. Whether you write out your goals and keep that list by your desk, on a post-it on your laptop, as a note in your phone, or you've created a vision board that hangs somewhere in your home - it's all good! Be clear on your goals, check in on them regularly and keep them visible at all times.

At the start of every week, I look ahead and plan out how I’ll spend my days. I look at my calendar, scheduled meetings, recurring tasks, etc. I ask myself “what went well last week?” (so that I can do more of that) and also “how can I improve what didn’t go well?”

Looking at my business at a high level and staying focused on where I want it to go means that the actions I take and work I do will get me closer to reaching those goals, because they're always top of mind.

Planning ahead on a weekly basis also helps me to see what can be outsourced that will free up my time and improve my bottom line. For example, if I have a lot of “busy” work that could be done by someone else, I’ll often delegate that and focus on higher-level tasks that move my bottom line forward.

Related : My 2018 goals

2. Track stats

One of the biggest contributors to my business’s growth is that I am super diligent about tracking my success through metrics. The data doesn’t lie, folks!

Every week, I record the stats into my Website Growth Tracker. This gives me a good understanding of key metrics such as website page views, email subscribers, social media followers and a whole lot more. When you keep an eye on indicators of growth, you’ll stay motivated and can pivot and change things up as needed to get the results you want.

Download the website growth tracker >>

I’m a firm believer that “what gets measured gets managed” which is why I always set aside time to track my business and website’s stats and metrics every week.

3. Engage with your community

There is SO much value in building and nurturing your community in an authentic way and I’ve seen how my attention and efforts have paid off!

Every week, I send out a weekly email to my Newsletter where I share tips, recommendations and insights on Squarespace, SEO, website design & development and business. These newsletters always get great feedback and I love how engaged my subscribers are - I’ve even had a few replies from people who are surprised that they actually get an answer from a real human, which is wild to me! If you haven't already, you can join my (awesome) newsletter below and join our crew.

On top of that, I often turn community and subscriber questions into blog posts and video tutorials so that I can answer them and share that knowledge with more people. I often shout out the original question so that people know that I’m listening and taking their engagement to heart!

I also reply to comments on various blog posts and Youtube videos every week (although I don’t always get a ton of these, I think it’s important to recognize them and reply). If you allow comments on your website, I recommend engaging with your readers and not letting their comments go unanswered.

4. Push out of your comfort zone

If you want to stand out from your peers in a saturated industry, know that you totally can but it’s going to take some work to get ahead!

Every week, make sure that you’re getting in front of new audiences. Not only does this have a direct impact on metrics related to business growth (think: newsletter subscribers, social media followers, and more page views), it also helps to develop your brand.

I’ve done this by pitching guest blog posts, requesting to appear on podcasts (like this one!), writing an article for another publication (like this one), co-hosting a webinar, starting a Youtube channel, etc.

You might also want to:

Announce or showcase your product on Product Hunt/Reddit
Submit a project to an industry site/magazine
Host or co-host an online challenge related to your business
Start doing Instagram/Facebook lives
Webinars
Create video content to share on your blog and Youtube
Finally start that email newsletter
Etc.

People do business with with people they know and trust, and the more you get out there and push out of your comfort zone, the better results you’ll see.

5. Celebrate wins

When your to-do list is a mile long, it can be easy to overlook all the little things you do and only celebrate the big wins. Personally, I keep my momentum up by celebrating ALL the wins no matter how big or small they are! Business is tough and good vibes go a long way.

Personally, I celebrate milestones such as selling a certain number of products, booking out my services, reaching a newsletter subscriber goal, getting to inbox zero, not working past 5 pm every day, etc.

For you, a celebration might be in order when you hit a certain number of social media followers. Or when you have a successful launch. Or when you join a new affiliate program and create another revenue stream for your website. Whatever your win looks like, do a happy dance and break out the bubbly!

Celebrating wins in business also means slowing down. I like to unwind by skipping out work early at the end of the week (hello summer Fridays!), booking a massage, going to my favourite fitness class, giving myself an at-home manicure while watching Netflix with a cup of tea, or even just writing a gratitude list (I have an note in my phone for this and love adding to it whenever I need a pick me up).

A business that is fun and engaging doesn’t happen by accident. Instead, you’ll need to work at it every week in order to reframe your relationship with hard work and how it’ll pay off.

6. Review business finances

Money might be the last thing you want to talk about but it’s essential that you keep track of money in/money out in your business (and personal life)!

I haven’t always had a firm grasp on my business finances (in fact, I was a hot mess for a longggggggg time), but once I got a handle on things, I couldn’t believe how much better my work got.

Set aside time every week to look at income and expenses from all sources. Running a business is never simple and many of us have multiple income streams, which is why it’s so important to keep track of it all on the regular. Don’t want anything to slip through the cracks!

Log all income and expenses, organize your receipts, review and follow up on invoices, and check your account balances.

A tool like my Income Tracker Spreadsheets will be a total godsend, and if you’re new to this product you can even watch my video tutorial that shows you exactly how to use it! Before you know it, tracking your income and expenses will stop be terrifying and might actually be something you look forward to :)

Get the income Tracker Spreadsheets >>

If you stay on top of your finances every week, you’ll have a much better chance of reaching your financial goals and growing your business. You can see exactly what happens when product sales are lighter one week, or smile smugly at the bump your bank account gets when you sign a new client.

Major money blocks might be holding you back from looking and and tracking this information, but know that you’re doing yourself a disservice by staying oblivious to your weekly business finances. Change it up and thank me later!

Final Thoughts

Success in business will be yours if you make a consistent, concentrated effort to improve the bottom line all the time. When you check in on your business on the regular, you'll stay focused on your goals and clear on the actions to take that will get you there.

There are certain tasks I do every single week and I really do think that they have helped me get where I am today.

Now that you've taken a look at what some of those non-negotiables are, I'd love to hear from you! Do you do any of these tasks every week too? More often/less frequently? Anything I missed that you think I should start to do today? I'd love to know so leave me a note in the comments below!