Whether your business relies on tried-and-true methods like billboards, commercials, sponsorships, local print advertising and mailers, or digital ones like social media channels, email marketing, Facebook promotions and Google ads, your marketing needs a system.

I consider myself a typical entrepreneur. Authentically growing an audience for my business consultancy — which develops custom business systems solutions — and pivoting when something doesn’t work out and serving clients day-to-day isn’t always easy, but it is rewarding. 

As a millennial and small business owner, you can expect to find me on the internet all day, most days. It’s how I find clients, communicate with my community and stay up to date on the lives of friends around the world.

Discernment is a criminally underused tool of business owners. We often forget that the one person who knows the most about a company’s vision, mission, budget, team capacity, goals, strengths, weaknesses, projects and growth potential is not the random person who wandered into the store — but the owner of the business.

Whether you’re a personal trainer offering new classes or a gardener who offers tree trimming, increasing your rates reflects the value your business provides.

Whether you set out to innovate an industry by changing the rules or simply keep on top of your own projects by finding the best practices and implementing them, at the heart of innovation is continual improvement throughout the business.

Call it a disagreement, difference of opinion or power struggle, but family-owned businesses are no less likely to have challenges about how things are run than any other company.

Here are my top three reasons why family businesses need systems:

Quick! What’s the next promotion, holiday sale or sales strategy you’re using in your business? If you’re thinking about Christmas or even Black Friday, then it’s time to shake up your marketing and create a system for monthly campaigns to promote your services, products or programs.

If you need a better reason than being “tired” for taking time off, here are four ways to structure your vacation time that benefit you and your employer.

Studies have shown that the only thing worse than bad customer service is inconsistent service, which leaves a consumer confused and wary about what to expect when they walk into a store, call the help desk or send an email. With more choices available than ever before, we all want consistency and to know what to expect in a given situation.

Spending more time on work-related tasks often creates a time deficit at home, leading to increased stress. The catch-22 is that when you have healthy balanced meals, a clean home and fresh laundry, it’s easier to tackle the growth of your business and challenges that come up.

Rewarding customer loyalty is a great way to build a community and encourage repeat business, but too often client rewards are an afterthought that ruin the goodwill you’re trying to build.

What is it about New Year’s and resolutions? They go together like peanut butter and jelly, but while it may be easy to make resolutions galore, keeping even one is much harder. Entrepreneurs setting 2017 goals will likely think about better marketing campaigns, adding more loyal customers, providing excellent service to clients and keeping a great reputation in the market.

Earlier this year, I was booking an appointment with a company I’d frequented for the past eight years when the receptionist informed me that their rates were changing — increasing by 25 percent, effective end of the week.

Your company could benefit from its own version of an online retail event to drive excitement, loyalty and sales.

While we’re several months away from the deluge of articles and general business obsession over 2017 goals, plans and strategy, now is the ideal time to determine your first quarter goals and plans.

It’s that time of year again: the start of a new school year. As millions of students head back to school, their parents head to local stores and to their computers or phones to purchase for all the necessary supplies.

No matter how careful you are on social media, just like normal social interactions, to some extent failure is inevitable.

The ubiquity of smartphones in our culture is both a blessing and a curse, as information is right at your fingertips in an instant but getting the correct information can be harder than ever.

Social media is like quicksand. From afar it looks innocent, but one misstep posting the wrong image or making an improper comment can sink your reputation faster than you thought possible. Additionally, while social media can be a powerful tool to reach clients, get media attention and share promotions with your audience, managing it all can be time consuming.

If you only read what gets posted on social media or hear what’s bragged about in speeches, you’d believe that being an entrepreneur is the best thing ever! But we’ve all experienced the rollercoaster ups and downs that come with owning one’s own business, sometimes one right after another.

It’s inevitable. You’re just getting into a groove with your business and team when someone announces she’s retiring, moving on, starting a family or going back to school. Or maybe you’re about to take a long-awaited vacation when you find out an employee has given notice.

When your company closes a new client, the last thing you might be thinking is how you’re going to eventually close out the contract, too. But not matter what you sell, every business needs this departure system in place if you’re going to have clean transitions and decrease stress.

Long gone are the days of employees spending 40 years in service to the same company. Some experts now say that you should plan to change employment every three to five years to continue to advance and grow. Whenever it comes time to leave your job, you’ll want to make a graceful exit both as a professional courtesy and in consideration of your reputation.

Sales and marketing can feel like a never ending marathon — as soon as you reach the finish line with one lead, there’s another sale to close. Even when all your hard work results in new sales, many businesses fumble when they pass the baton to engaging and welcoming the new client. The lack of a solid onboarding strategy can result in a rocky start to your relationship with clients, increased requests for refunds and decreased confidence in your business.

The process of identifying a problem and building a system for the solution doesn’t have to be difficult, time consuming or expensive — but it does require your attention. The good news is that you don’t have to do it alone.

It’s event season and whether you’re throwing a simple holiday party at the office or gearing up for your spring conference, there are some simple systems that can keep stress at bay.

Whether or not your business is in retail products, you can make the most of this momentum to promote your company and offer special promotions to existing customers and leads — making your last quarter more profitable and less stressful.

It’s September, the nationally recognized time to get back to school and learn something new. Even if you graduated long ago, it’s still a great time to introduce new systems to improve your business. Whether you’re a brick and mortar, a solo entrepreneur, exclusively online or fall somewhere in the middle, documenting what you do and how you do it is more important than ever.

We often get so caught up in the planning of our time away that we fail to consider what needs to happen at the office while we’re gone. Make it as easy as possible for your team to cover essentials while you’re gone, and set yourself up for success upon your return

While travel for business always sounds more exciting than it usually is, you still want the trip to be worthwhile. Whether you’re a seasoned business traveler or just an office escapee, making the most of your trips is not only good for the company but for you as well.

Every service business has had one: the dreaded problem client. These clients seem to bring more trouble than their business is worth, and dealing with them can quickly become a time sink. When dealing with a problem child, you need to implement solutions and be prepared to sever the relationship if those solutions don’t pan out. Here’s how:

Telecommuting is a hot topic around many water coolers and a popular office perk, particularly for enticing young professionals. But while it may be commonplace in a number of companies, deciding if it is right for your team takes careful consideration. If you do choose to enable telecommuting, a few simple policies can make the process smoother.

It’s a challenge that faces many entrepreneurs of self-built companies. How do you gracefully and lucratively transition a business to a successor or new owner when it’s time to retire?

You may be ready to embrace change, implement new software or just create new rules around email. But getting the whole team on board can be a task in itself. Change is always harder than it seems. Here are a few tips for getting buy-in.

Has the day has finally arrived to move your business into a new home? Learn how to survive the transition without losing your patience, computers or sanity.

While it may be tempting to wait until next year to tally up the cards and gifts you’ll need to send clients at the end of 2015, there are ways to show your supporters that you appreciate them year round. Here’s how to develop a year-round strategy without additional headaches.

At my first full-time job after college, the office manager routinely sorted through the recycling box to ensure that tossed junk mail had been cancelled with the sender. If someone from my department did not write the cancellation clearly enough, there was a lecture. This culminated in a 20-minute rant and the ultimate request to track all incoming junk mail, date of cancellation and subsequent mail on a spreadsheet for review. I refused. And then I quit.

You’ve finally done it. Your business now has that elusive support team that should enable you to take the odd weekend off, serve more clients and stop being the bottleneck for every decision. Time to celebrate! … Except, you remember, you still need to train those new team members.

In a world with automated bill paying, direct deposits and DVR, you may be thinking “what will they automate next?” If you’re a business owner looking for seasonal help or another employee, then I have good news for you. Automating your hiring process can not only save time and headaches, but it can also help identify the best applicants easier than ever.

Business owners and entrepreneurs are often lauded for working against all the odds and being too stubborn to quit. But in reality, there are times when quitting is the best option available.

Abandoning your email is sort of like running away from home: We all know you’ll be back by dinner time.

It may seem that landing that New York Times interview, getting featured on the front page of AOL or winning a $135,000 business contest means that, as a business owner, you are set for life. In truth, it’s just the beginning.

When it comes time to launch your new products, offers and ad campaign for the new year, your focus will likely be on the initial offer. But your success will depend on the behind-the-scenes planning you do ahead of time.

New Year’s is the quintessential time for small businesses to make (and keep) resolutions for growth. But achieving your company’s 2014 goals hinges on knowing some important numbers, and many businesses never go beyond their income to identify and track essential metrics. Here are the 14 most important performance measures to track this year.