Does my business need to be online?

Are you a business owner wondering if you should put your business online? Do you need a website or would social media account pages be enough? Have you ever joined a specific business-type listing site?  These are great questions and most likely the answer is yes, you should be online in one or more form, depending on the type of busines own.  I have seen many changes in the online world in the past few years and keeping up with them all can be a daunting task for any business, coach or consultant to handle.  As an online business support specialist these are things that I can help you with.

To know where to start and determine what the best options for your business are, you will want to create a strategy and marketing plan.  There are so many ways to use the internet to market your business. Finding the right channel(s) to reach your customers is vital to your marketing success.  To develop your plan you’ll need to answer some key questions first:

1. What am I selling (product or service)?
2. Who is my target audience?
3. Where do they hang out?
4. What terms would they use to search for my business.

Once you have some answers to these basic questions the research begins.  Does my business need to be on every social media channel? No.  You should focus on the channels that will get you the best return by looking again at question 3 above, where do my customers hang out?

Still wondering, do I need a website?  This is a great question. The internet is such a busy place and you want your business to stand out?  However if your business is selling firewood, cut, split and delivered within 35 miles of your home, than you probably do not need an full blown website. You could easily spread the word with a few social media pages for your business and joining local homeowner / service provider groups.  If you want a website, a single static page might be a great way to start.

A strategy, tenacity, and patience in developing your marketing plan are keys to getting the results you want.  Want some help developing your plan?  Like this article?  Follow me on Facbook or Instagram for more tips and insight.