What type of website do you want?
A brochure website is an overview of your business and what you offer. Think of it as an electronic business card but a super posh one. It's a website that will make people curious about your company and will leave them wanting more. It's important that you can capture visitors to your site's email addresses. This is ideal for a new business wanting to create an online presence.
E-commerce is a website that allows sales transactions to be processed. Almost all online shopping websites, no matter what size, use this type of website. If you are asking people to pay for your service or products this is the website for you.
What does hosting a website mean?
Your web hosting service provider is the company that will provide the technology and service that
is needed for your website to be viewed on the internet. To explain it in simple terms: your website
is your shop and your hosting service is the ground on which your shop is built.
Should I choose WordPress or Wix?
First, let me explain what each one does. WordPress is an excellent website platform for a variety
of websites. To use WordPress you will need some technical knowledge as you need to update the
site and install updates yourself. If you use a template you can always adjust it and it's ideal for
people who will outsource their website monthly maintenance and you should feel very
comfortable working with technology. It goes from blogging to E-commerce to business to
portfolio websites. It has great flexibility and usability and is a great solution for small and large
websites. It can also help build membership, forums, events and E-learning sites.
Wix is an easy to run maintenance-free website which will run itself and there is no need for any
technical knowledge. Wix gives you a unique way of building and developing a website. They
provide a whole load of readymade templates to be used at your choice; you can then add your own
text, videos, images, shop and blog. If you want to use a blank template and start from scratch then
this is also an option.
Use social media to drive traffic to your website
Social media is a quick and easy way to drive traffic to your website and best of all most of it will be free. To build a following you can post links to your blog or promotion in groups on your pages and profiles. Remember to add a call to action for example read my blog or sign up for a free copy of my cheat sheet. Focus on the platform where you will get the most engagement. If you want to drive more traffic to your website you can use Facebook and Instagram ads. Twitter and LinkedIn also offer advertisement but it depends on your sector whether it will deliver a return on investment.
How are you going to collect your emails?
There are many ways to collect email addresses from potential customers. One of the most popular is Facebook ads; they are relatively inexpensive, results are fast and you can reach many people. Another option is to have a pop-up form on your website. Rather than clients scrolling through your page to find out where to sign up, you can install a popup. You can add a call to action button on the side of your screen. This means that when people are ready to contact you the button is always next to them. This has been a lot more popular in recent years and Google doesn't mind them, unlike popups.
A third option is to use a CRM system (Customer Management system). It helps keep customer details all in one place and up to date. It will track customer interaction and can be integrated with your website and your Facebook ads. HubSpot is a perfect example of a CRM. It is an inbound marketing and sales system that helps keep track of what's going on in your business.
Pricing your products
Do you have a pricing strategy? Working out how much to charge is crucial for the survival of your business. Undercharge and you won't make a profit, overcharge and you won't get enough customers. Compare your products and services to your competitors to see where your pricing point sit. If it's above the average, justify why you are more expensive. I have pitched for work knowing that I was five times more expensive than the person who I was pitching against. I got the ongoing contract because I could demonstrate the benefits in my service and point out that someone working for such a low price will not be able to deliver a high-quality service.
Remember higher-priced clients means that you will need fewer clients but when you lose a client it will have a big impact on your business. The best strategy is to have three tiers. One low price product like a book or an online course, which doesn't require time but you can sell it to many people. A mid rage product or service which is easy to deliver and supply a steady income for your business for example a membership and high-end products or services which require more of your time and effort.
Outsourcing
You can't do everything so why don't you outsource the things you don't like to do. Outsourcing helps you to focus on the things that you're good at. It helps you focus on the core business activities and can actually increase your efficiency and increase your profits. It also helps you control your costs and you then can release more capital for investment in other areas of your business. Many people outsource accounting, social media and admin tasks. Find people with similar views and interests to help you in your business. Start by giving them one or two projects before committing to a long term contract.
Remember there are multiple ways of doing business. You just need to find the one way that works for you.
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