Planting the Seed: 5 Investments to Help Your Company Grow

You reep what you sow.

If you’re longing to serve home-grown salsa this September, you’d better have planted the tomato seeds in June. Investments work the same way. If you want your company to grow in the future, you have to start preparing now; overnight successes are rare in the business world. That preparation requires investment – there’s just no way around that. Here are five investments you can utilize to ensure future growth for your company. 1. Email Marketing Services Direct paper mail marketing is a thing of the past. Today’s companies are investing in email marketing campaigns that deliver your business’ message instantly. No postage, no physical materials and no waiting for mail delivery: the benefits of email marketing are endless. 2. Web Design Services Nothing looks more like amateur work to those visiting your site than a clunky, slow and outdated web design. Web design trends are constantly changing; your website will need to be updated consistently to stay ahead of the curve.  Choose a designer that will make your site smooth, streamlined, and aesthetically pleasing. If you’re hosting your webpage on blog hosting sites like WordPress or Tumblr, you’ll need to spring for a premium template in order to be taken seriously. 3. Professional Photography Services Those pocket camera pictures tell your customers that you’re not serious about your business. Stock photography that you purchase online may be done by a professional, but gives your business an impersonal, artificial feel. Instead, hire a local professional photographer to take pictures of your actual staff and products/services (rather than an image that resembles them or the poor quality of point-n-shoot images). Give your customers an attractive, professional picture of what your company is all about. 4. Premium Networking Services Upgrading to the premium service on online professional networks can really make a difference in the tools you have on hand to market your business. Though basic access to sites like Commonfig is free for service providers, you can opt to make the monthly investment of $25 to have access to the site’s full range of marketing and networking tools, such as unlimited online scheduling for appointments, video or chat conferencing, and profile analytics reports. 5. Content Creation and Content Marketing Services One of the easiest ways to draw traffic to your company website is to offer something people want or need—for free. Well-written content (blog posts, how-to articles, infographics, etc.) does three important things for your business: it draws search engine traffic to your site, attracts links from other websites, and helps you to build yourself as an expect within your industry that consumers can trust. Your content isn’t doing you any good if no one is seeing it, however. A content marketing firm can promote your content on social media (Facebook, Twitter, social bookmarking, forums or the blogosphere) to make sure your targeted audience is seeing your content. In addition to helping your business grow, these investments will give your company a sense of legitimacy and authority. It shows your clients or customers that you’re serious about your company and its future growth. Start investing in your company’s future now. After all, building a brand and a company takes time: the sooner you start, the sooner you’ll begin to see the results of your investments.

Posted on September 14, 2011 by in Graphic Design, Investing, Photography, Professional Writer

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About Nicki M. Porter

Nicki M. Porter is a published poet, fledgling foodie, and admitted alliteration addict currently living in the greater Boston area. Outside of writing, her next biggest passion is food-- in fact, her favorite thing about writing for Commonfig is the sense of community and mutual dependence she finds within the site; it reminds her of the community and mutualism she so enjoys at her local farmer's market. Nicki graduated summa cum laude from Old Dominion University with a B.A. in English. Her writing can be found in print as well as on dozens of blogs, websites, and online publications. Follow her tweeted musings on writing, blogging, food, and her deep and undying love of the Muppet Show on Twitter at @nickimporter or find her on Commonfig at http://www.commonfig.com/nickiporter.
View all posts by Nicki M. Porter →

8 Responses to “Planting the Seed: 5 Investments to Help Your Company Grow”

  1. Why You Should Start BloggingNo Gravatar October 18, 2011 8:10 pm
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    It’s hard to find knowledgeable people on this topic, but you sound like you know what you’re talking about. Thanks!

  2. PhilbertNo Gravatar October 19, 2011 10:28 pm
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    *Hello! I just would like to give a huge thumbs up for the great info you have here on this post. I will be coming back to your blog for more soon.

  3. sell my house fastNo Gravatar October 23, 2011 5:39 am
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    Amazing article. Will keep an eye out for other articles by you. Is there a weekly newsletter I’m able to subscribe to? Thanks for your insight

  4. TraceeNo Gravatar October 25, 2011 6:29 pm
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    I really learned a lot from this.

  5. Jerrie TorrenceNo Gravatar October 31, 2011 9:54 pm
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    The blog was absolutely fantastic! Lots of great information and inspiration, both of which we all need!

  6. Shama KernNo Gravatar March 25, 2012 1:27 am
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    Your message is to do things in a more professional way. Although this costs money, the fact is that none of us is able to do everything by ourselves and do it well at the same time when it comes to our web presence. Your tips are well taken.

    • CommonfigNo Gravatar March 28, 2012 11:27 am
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      Thanks Shama Kern for sharing your concern. Commonfig.com was designed to enable business owners who are in the same predicament as you to access wide range of tools to cover marketing campaigns, relationship builders, online scheduling and lot more for fixed $25/month to grow and build sustainable business. Also, we have introduced pay-as-you-go feature to upgrade to premium as and when needed to optimize cost. Otherwise to sign up to create a comprehensive multimedia profile is FREE.

  7. Melodie LichtNo Gravatar September 18, 2012 6:10 pm
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    Planting the Seeds…. excellent article with many fine points. As usual, I enjoy and learn from all of your posts and information. This is an excellent site and I look forward to joining the program and watching you and your business evolve. MY BIGGEST TAKE AWAY: When you invest in your business you are also investing in yourself -make it count!

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