Do you want to start a business from home? Do you have a great idea but don’t know where to get started? This blog post will help! I’ll be going over the steps for starting your own online business, including some tips and tricks.
The first step is deciding on what type of business you want to do. There are many different types of businesses that can be done from home, so it’s important to decide which one best suits your skill set and interests. For example, if you’re good with the design then e-commerce might be a good option for you while someone who loves food may enjoy cooking classes or catering opportunities.
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Choose the right platform for your business
Most modern businesses will want to be found on Google if they can; but which platform should you choose? The benefits of each are widely reported on the web, so who do you believe? We’ve cut through the noise to give you some facts.
1. Is SEO (Search Engine Optimization) your priority?
If this is your target, you should focus on the Google platform. This is because of their close association with this type of marketing. Their AdWords system allows your business to appear higher up in the rankings of a Google search, helping you to become more visible and therefore increasing your chances of converting visitors into customers – which brings us neatly onto our next point.
2. Is building a customer base your priority?
If you’re looking for leads, leads, and more leads then Facebook is the place to be. With numerous ways of targeting the right people and an incredibly simple call-to-action system, it’s no wonder more than 1 billion people use this platform every day! Using the Advanced Custom Audiences feature, you can target people who have already engaged with your business – a useful way of targeting customers to increase brand loyalty.
3. Is growing a fan base your priority?
If it’s likes and shares you’re after, then Facebook is the place to be once again! In fact, this platform even outperforms video sites such as YouTube and Vimeo when it comes to engagement rates. So, not only is Facebook a great place for your business to get new fans, but it’s also a great platform for continuing conversations with existing ones too.
4. Is money your priority?
This usually comes in the form of advertising revenue from clicks or views. If this is what you’re looking for, both platforms have an ad service to offer. However, it’s important to note that you can get a lot more impressions on YouTube than you can on Facebook, so if the volume is what you’re after then this platform may be the one for you.
On the other hand, it might be worth noting that your click-through rate will be much higher on Facebook than it will on YouTube so your return for investment might actually be better.
5. Is engagement your priority?
Both platforms are good at this, but again the greater volume of impressions comes into play with YouTube’s data suggesting that videos related to news events or entertainment go viral much more frequently than those posted on Facebook.
6. Is building phone leads your priority?
Although there don’t seem to be any specific figures suggesting one platform outperforms the other, it’s probably worth noting that Google’s Android mobile OS powers more than 70% of mobile devices worldwide; Apple meanwhile is responsible for the rest. So, if you’re looking for SMS (text) engagement, your audience will most likely be found on Android.
7. Is building brand awareness your priority?
In terms of impressions and video views, YouTube wins hands down – but there’s a catch! The channel that you choose to post this content onto has a huge bearing on how successful it becomes.
Your business could have the most amazing videos in the world but if you post them onto a channel that is not relevant to your business, or one that doesn’t have the right audience, then they may never get seen. This is why Facebook’s news feed has become so popular with businesses looking to build their brand awareness – it’s better at targeting potential customers based on what they’ve previously liked and shared.
8. Is email list building your priority?
This is an area where Facebook is currently leading the way in terms of tools available to businesses. You can create contests, giveaways, and sweepstakes, all designed to encourage users to subscribe to your site’s newsletter. On top of this, you can use ‘Lead Ads’ to collect emails directly on Facebook so you don’t even have to leave the site.
On YouTube, advertisers can run video promotions or link viewers to a landing page for them to subscribe – but it’s not quite as simple as most social platforms…
9. Is selling your priority?
This is an area where YouTube has always won out against Facebook. Although there are plenty of businesses selling via both platforms, if you’re looking to create a shop window then YouTube is without question the place for your business to be seen. Within just five years since launching in beta, Google’s eCommerce store ‘Google Shopping’ has become the second largest search engine behind its parent company.
Take time off work to focus on building your new business.
I’m working on a startup. We’re pretty far along, but we still have work to do before we’re ready for the public. I don’t know how long that’s going to take, so I need some time off work—and it looks like my company is OK with that. Is there anything special I need to know?
Are you sure your company is OK with it? Because you’re going to be a startup founder, not a startup employee. And that’s a bit of a different situation.
One thing I tell my friends who are also building their own companies is that they should stop thinking like employees and start thinking like founders. We all know that employees have a lot of restrictions on them: They can be fired for saying the wrong thing on social media.
They can be forced to work 100-hour weeks and stay logged in 24/7. But as an entrepreneur, you don’t need to put up with any of that. If your company doesn’t like it when you pull time off, you can always quit, or change jobs to work at another company that’d support your time off.
Use email marketing to stay in touch with potential customers
You know that email marketing is a great tool for building up your clientele. You might have even started out with creating your list of contacts, but you’re wondering how to keep up the momentum month to month. Here are our top tips for engaging customers through email marketing!
1 . Product Updates Don’t just post sales pitches or updates.
If you have a new product, don’t just tell them, show them! Products evolve over time and it’s important to let your customers know about the changes. For example, maybe you now offer a different version of a product with more bells and whistles. Or maybe you’ve expanded your line to include related products. Put this information in a monthly email to keep your customers in the loop.
2 . UGC Do you have a great testimonial from a customer that you can share with others?
If not, why not find one? Our top tip is to ask. Let people know that you’d love their input and offer them something in return – whether it’s getting their name on the website, a discount on their next order or simply knowing how much you appreciate them. You can do this through your newsletters and we think it’s helpful to post some of these up on your Facebook page too.
3 . Competitions We’re all looking for ways to win something for free!
Organizing a competition every now and then is a great way to generate some buzz around your business and also build relationships with customers. It’s an opportunity for you to ask them a question and get their feedback on something related to your business too.
