product solves and then how your
product is the perfect way to solve
it. Include an opt-in option to build
your customer database and make
it easy to buy - any more than two
clicks between a potential sale and
the checkout could mean you lose
customers.
Think of it like a real shop - a fast,
friendly checkout.
BUILD A FOLLOWING
The best way to win business
isn’t about award winning SEO,
paid search or flashy advertising
campaigns - it’s about making
contact and impressing one
customer at a time.
Get in front of potential and
existing clients with a helpful blog,
pertinent social media posts and
personal contact.
A mailing list is a crucial part of
an online business strategy and is
best optimised through services
such as MailChimp. This allows you
to analyse your customer base and
market to it accordingly.
Again, fees vary, but can be free
to start with and increase according
to the size of your business and how
established it is.
PICKING YOUR WORKERS
Don’t get friends, relatives or
neighbours to build your website for
free. Growing an online business is
a huge task, so only involve people
who you can pay or will work with you
as a business partner. Anything else
risks ruining your business and your
friendship.
Likewise, don’t rely on unpaid
interns to do the donkey work. Stabilityand accountability are crucial to
business success, so however sharp
your unpaid workers might be, without
a contract and a salary they can up and
leave at the drop of a hat - the last thing
your business needs.When you first launch an online business, sales may be so low you only
need send out a few emails a week. Depending on what you sell, for how
much and what your costs are, this might be as big as you want to go.
But if your business model is such that a significant turnover is key to
your success, you’ll need a custom solution.
To build a sophisticated online store from scratch might take six
months and involve four developers - and with fees starting at £30 an
hour, you can imagine how much this might cost.
Development is also an ongoing process. The changing nature of the
internet and how it’s accessed means you’ll have to constantly update
your site. Essentially, business growth means continual development -
and this is as true of an online business as any other.
But don’t let the cost put you off if you’ve got big dreams. Look how
Amazon and Facebook started out and where they are now - small ideas
that have become massive global brands. If you have the right business
idea and the wherewithal to pull it off, the sky really is the limit.THE BIG TIME