Happy Thanksgiving 2020!

I’m almost one hundred percent sure you’re not reading this on Thanksgiving Day. If you are, you either have no plans with friends or family today or really wish you didn’t.

As for me, I wrote this post days ago, but I’ll bet you already guessed that. As I was sitting down getting ready to share my supposed wisdom with the world I thought

“Too bad I can’t see into the future. If I could I’d be able to write about all the great stuff I did on thanksgiving with my family and then use it for some kind of helpful analogy.”

Alas, I can’t do that, but I can list off five business-related things that I’m thankful for this year, so here it goes…

1. Clients/buyers

This has got to be the most obvious blessing a business of any kind can count. Without any clients asking me to do their website copy, emails, blog posts, etc. I wouldn’t be making much of a profit. And since buyers and clients are the most important part of your business it’s important to grow their loyalty. One of the best ways to do that is by taking a que from the present holiday and tell them you’re thankful they’re doing business with you.

You’ve seen this email before: “Thank you for choosing (name of company)”

and then it goes on to tell you about your purchase or give you a receipt. It’s the simplest thing but not all companies do it unfortunately. 

Now, thank you emails are the bear minimum; a lot of times companies do the “little somethin’ extra” strategy to get customers to feel good about their website or brand. For example I really like high quality wigs, and the site I order them from sends a little thank you note and free wig cap in every one of their packages. Another example is the time my mother found a Hallmark snowman in the movie pack she’d just bought.

A lot of web pages have free downloads when you subscribe to their services or offer a free consulting session, whatever it is you decide to do it has to be something you can afford and that will be of value to the recipient.

 

1. Websites

Websites are the backbone of a business. They allow new people to discover your business and it’s the perfect place to explain everything you just can’t fit in a social media post or on a business card. It’s a bad practice to ever forget just how important your website is, in fact you should be providing fresh changes to it every year (just don’t do it every month). 

1. Content

Content, more specifically good content is another huge factor in the success of a website. Good content brings in new traffic and instills a certain amount of trust, and it also helps you rank higher in the search results.  

As a copywriter it’s doubly important for me to have good content and a relevant website because that’s what I’m offering to my clients; I display my skills and experience, which you might do if you’re offering services, or you may want to make a video or download with tips on how to use the product you’re selling. 

1. Reviews

Reviews aren’t necessary for having a business but they really improve your customers opinions of your product or service. Before buying anything from a website I’ve never been on before I check the reviews on their site and what people have posted about them on social media or other platforms. 

But what about the flip side: bad reviews. Believe it or not you should be thankful for those too. Bad reviews tell you what needs fixing and you didn’t even have to pay for it!

1. Diversity of Businesses

Can we just appreciate for a moment how many types of businesses there are? In my industry alone (copywriting) you have countless niches, not to my main niche (the craft industry) which literally has something for everyone. As long as you have an audience willing to pay you can make a living selling anything, just look at the pet rocks craze that started around 1975.

And there you have it, five things we all can be grateful for, but I have a confession to make...

Even though it’s Thanksgiving day I actually have a different reason for making this list, specifically why there are five items. 

When I was still in my early teens one of our teachers at a youth group I attended for a while encouraged us to list five things we were grateful for every night before going to bed so we’d be more positive. 

As the years have gone by I learned that there are piles of scientific research that proved his point to be valid.

Studies have shown that gratitude is an important element in restructuring connections in the brain, balancing dopamine levels, and releasing stress. If your interested you can check out this article I read on the subject https://positivepsychology.com/neuroscience-of-gratitude/

All of those things improve your work life. It doesn’t matter if you’re a marketing manager in a large company or a one-man operation; gratitude, along with other positive emotions and thoughts, will help you get more work done, and also make the whole thing less soul-crushing when things don’t always go according to plan.

So with that in mind please take time today to think about everything you have to be grateful for.