An Easy Way To Make Your Small Business More Visible-For Free
People often assume a business must be big in order to be successful. Regardless of whether or not that’s true, it takes money, time and a lot of people to make a big company. The reality is that small businesses can make it very far on their own without the help of advertising agencies or marketing specialists.
Here are a few ways you can be more visible and make your business feel more approachable to potential customers.
Improve your website – up to 60% of consumers start their search for businesses on the internet. Sites like Yelp, Google and YellowPages are scrutinized by consumers who can read reviews from thousands of people, which means it’s crucial that you have an attractive, clean site with a clear message about what you do. Make sure that your website is mobile friendly as well, so potential customers can easily find you in their mobile phone or tablet. Also include social media links so that potential clients can follow you on Facebook and Twitter without leaving the website they’re on.
Use your social media – Facebook and Twitter aren’t just for posting status updates or getting in touch with friends. Posting links to your website, sharing your content, and getting people excited about what you do is just as important as being friends with them. You don’t need to be a computer wizard or a social media genius—simply follow your company’s company page, share their posts, retweet relevant articles and add an interesting comment that keeps the conversation going. Not only is this helpful for garnering traffic to your website, but it also helps you seem more human.
Be more human – don’t be afraid to use first name-formal last names and ask questions to potential customers. Don’t be afraid of being personable—if you want people to trust your company and pay it money, they need a personal connection. Trust that these small steps will reap huge rewards for your business.
Visit local businesses – even if the only time you see your town is driving down the main street, take some time to actually visit some of the stores. You can find out what they do, who uses them and if they have any complaints. Take notes on their products and services—both good and bad—so that you can use them as a point of discussion while speaking to clients. Even if they don’t have anything to do with your business, it’s always better to learn from someone else’s mistakes than your own.
Choose professional photos – first impressions are often based on images alone, which means that the photos you choose for yourself are crucial. It doesn’t matter whether or not you hired a photographer or spent hours setting up lighting—bad images will make people see your business in a negative way before they even know what it is or how well it works. Professional photos help to strengthen your brand and provide a more professional look, which is why you need to hire professional photographers to capture your company’s most important moments.
Use social media for outreach – the days when people would put flyers on their countertops may be long gone, but social media websites provide a new avenue for small businesses to communicate with customers. Start sending out invitations to your clients on Facebook or Twitter and see how many will respond. If they do, send them a link where they can view the presentation that you prepared for them. If you want additional business in the future, offer them an incentive like a gift card or discount in exchange for their feedback.
Focus on your product – since consumers spend more than 40% of their time online looking at products and brands, it’s essential that you have a product to sell or be able to offer something unique. Bullet points (for summary statements), price lists, social media posts and infographics can help you speak in a clear and concise way. Here are three tips for marketing through social media:
Tracking conversations – think about the conversation around your business as a conversation between people. If you keep track of these conversations, you can review them after several weeks to see who is talking about what and how many clicks they’re getting from people taking action towards you or your business.
Social media content – the key to social media marketing is not posting it all and hoping people will see it, but posting the most important information at the right time. Your best bet is to choose a few core topics that you plan to talk about so that you can post short, but relevant messages and encourage people to interact. You should also keep track of your conversations so that when your followers ask for more content or if they have questions (which they will), you can refer them back to articles that were posted before.
Keep track of your business’s goals – while you may be focused on the present, it’s also vital to make sure you’re setting up plans for the future. Whether you want to start a business or increase your current one, you need to know that you’ll be able to keep your business running by taking care of the following:
Find a location – if you’re just starting out, one suggestion is to look at apartments and houses while they’re on the market. These properties are often under-priced and will provide you with an opportunity to start your business in an area where it makes sense. If the city isn’t feasible for renting office space and other facilities, consider renting rooms in a facility that is close enough for you to move in.
Repairs – don’t neglect recurring expenses like plumbing and electricity. If you don’t have the cash to do these repairs, you may want to consider a loan or small business credit line to finance the project and make sure everything is in place for your business.
Miscellaneous expenses – from advertising and marketing to office supplies and furniture, there are plenty of things you will have to budget for during your first few months in business. As time goes on and your business grows, you should be able to predict the costs that will come up so that you can plan ahead for them.
Business insurance – although it can feel like a hassle at first, it’s critical that all small businesses get insurance so that they won’t have their property damaged from accidents or theft. You may also want to add a rider on your homeowner’s insurance so that you can get protection for your employees and business property.
Accurate numbers – when you start your business, try to keep track of the numbers concerning your monthly expenses, overhead and revenues. You will need these to help you see if the business is working or if you need to make adjustments.
What is your motivation? Each day we have opportunities for change along with opportunities for growth through simple actions and choices.
Conclusion
How much can you stand to make? Do you want to go from making $100,000 a year all the way up to $1 million a year or do you want to start small, keeping your overhead low and starting up slowly.
The next step is choosing what kind of business venture you are interested in. What are your strengths and weaknesses? How will you capitalize on them? For example, one entrepreneur will probably not be able to handle creating a website from scratch but they could potentially oversee another company’s website and use their strengths to give the other company an edge.