There’s no question about it- your business must be online. You’re not obligated to use the internet for personal reasons. Some people love to spend their spare time online, and others don’t. Your business, however, does need to be on the web -at least, if you want people to find out about it. How large or complicated you want to make it is up to you, but it’s essential that your customers and prospects can look you up online. Whereas people once used phone books to find out who was offering what services, hardly anyone does this anymore. They go online and the more they find about you online the more likely they will be to buy from you or hire you!
Start building an email list with your current customers. This is not hard to do it all. All you have to do is ask them to sign up for your list when they are in your store. You can even take the addresses in through your cash register if you are running a retail establishment. After collecting the addresses, you can start sending out the emails right away. So if you’re having a sale, or if there is something relevant to share, send them one. Otherwise, don’t send it every day. Many people will actually forward your e-mails to other people. When they do this, this can become very viral in nature. Make sure that you tell people that you have a website.
Business cards and letterheads, for example, should be made with your website address printed on them. If you have a business that provides people with printed receipts, your URL should be on these. If your business is a brick and mortar one, your URL should be in several highly visible locations for everyone to see. Creating an online presence is the first stage, but there’s more to it than that. You also want to make sure everyone is aware of it. There are many ways to do this once you put your mind to it.
List your business in niche centric directories. You have a product to sell? Do you cater to a particular niche audience? Some directories will cater to certain audiences. Depending upon your particular niche, only list your product or service in the directory that focuses on your niche. You need to list your product or service in only a niche related to what you’re selling. If you do more than that, it might look like you are spamming those directories.
Managing your business online presence is very important in today’s tech driven environment.
Putting yourself in every directory that relates to your products or services is still what you need to do. You can use directories you already know about, and then search for others as well. If you want your business to have a viable web presence, you can use many different techniques. Be on the lookout for all the methods you can implement. Click here for an example of a business that has successfully managed and groomed their online presence. Any business today that isn’t online is at a distinct disadvantage. If you don’t have a presence on the internet your business will dwindle away to nothing. The internet is now the primary way to seek information. So do whatever it takes to get your business visible on the internet!