When you look at it, there has never been a better time to start an online business. Stats are showing more people are online than ever before, creating an enticing world of potential customers. Gone are the days of letterbox marketing and advertisements in your local paper hoping your ad will appeal to the thousands who see it. With such a huge untapped market and potential audience available in the one place, how can you go wrong? Social media avenues like Facebook and Twitter are attracting millions of people a day, so how do you start building a successful online business?
Unfortunately, many an entrepreneur has thought the same thing and failed. In a world of millions of people, not everyone is going to be in your target market. The key to a successful online presence is building engagement and a foundation where your target audience is interactive. So, the big question: How to start a business?
Here are 5 key tips entrepreneurs use in building a successful online business.
How To Start A Business:
1. Create Engagement. It is easy to be lead down the path of buying a following. Facebook, Instagram and Twitter all give you the opportunity to buy fans, with mailing lists also for sale. But you will find they will not interact with your business as they don’t really have an interest in it. A good entrepreneur will build their audience through good content that is engaging and targeted to their market. For example, having followers who do not have children is not your ideal target market if you own a children’s boutique. Creating content that is interactive will engage your audience and build intrigue into what you are up to and will have them coming back for more.
2. Continue to Build Your Audience. It is easy to get caught up in the business building aspects and think your customers will just find you. Tweaking your website, introducing a new product and creating attractive graphics on PicMonkey are all fun but fruitless if no one is there to see them. A good entrepreneur will go and find their audience to build their following. Go to where your target audience hangs out and build an interest in your business and encourage them to come over and follow you.
Ways you can attract a following include:
• Guest Blogging on a relevant site
• Write an article for a big media outlet
• Target an advertisement on social media to your identified audience – in this instance, bigger is not necessarily better.
3. Stay Focussed. In this day and age where everyone else’s success seems to be in front of us at every corner, it is hard not to lose focus and wonder why they succeeded where you didn’t. What works for one person may not work for another and it is important to not lose sight of your goals and achievements. Acknowledge their success or win and then refocus your strength onto your own business. Don’t lose sight of your own goals and direction.
4. Add value. A good entrepreneur will always make sure their content is of the highest quality. Once you get your followers, you need to keep them engaged and interested enough to tell their friends about you. Whether it is your website, newsletters or social media posts, make sure you keep your content engaging to keep them coming back for more.
5. Constant Learning. A good entrepreneur does not stop learning. With everything at your fingertips, it can be easy to have an information overload. Focus your learning to what is working and isn’t working in your business. An entrepreneur will always learn from their mistakes as well as their successes. Continually learning as you go is a sure fire way to help you build success and create your own niche in your chosen field. Use statistical programs like Google Analytics on your website and Facebook Manager to see what your audience is interacting with and what is working for your business.
The internet is a big open platform and targeting it to your field and niche is a key way to building a successful online business. Focus on your target market and what your target market is looking for, the sky is the limit!
To see what handy tools and resources we use to grow a successful business pop your email in below and we’ll share our list with you!
