There’s no point in running your own business if no one knows about it!
Whether your business is local or online, you didn’t go through all that trouble of thinking up an idea, a name for your business and developing some type of business plan along with the products and services that you are going to offer for no one else to know about it.
Because if no one else knows about it then you are basically not going to be making any money from that business as you have no one to sell to!
So, say you had a lovely vintage tea shop in your local town. People who walk through the town and past your tea shop will no doubt notice you. You’ve probably done a bit of advertising and have some sort of social media presence. On your opening day you will probably have quite a few people popping in and over the coming weeks and months you will get more passers by into the shop and hopefully gain some regulars.
But is that enough?
You may think yes I’m just about covering the bills and I love doing what I do, meeting new people all the time, chatting with customers and creating new menus and so on. And that maybe all you want.
But is it?
Do you want more?
Now imagine…
That little tea shop of yours being full every day, having a waiting list of people wanting to book in as you are getting quite exclusive. People from miles around are hearing about your shop and all the new ideas that you are coming up with to keep enticing them to come back. It’s not just tea you are serving, it’s the whole experience. Eventually you open another shop in a neighbouring town, then another, then another.
This may all sound WAY out of your league at the moment – but have you ever thought about it? Have you ever thought of a plan on how you can make that happen?
Now if you have an online business, let’s for example say you have been helping people and businesses out with their admin online – a virtual assistant. You love what you do and you have a social media presence so people know about you. But it’s still a bit of a hobby. You do it part time, around your other job or looking after the kids, as it’s not really bringing in enough for you to do it full time.
Now let’s imagine again…
You are getting more and more work that enables you to leave your current job and focus on your online business full time. You need to start hiring more staff to help you with your workload and you have become so well known you are working for some real big players and are getting jetted off around the world to work with them as your list of expertise grows.
Do you ever dream big?
You are probably thinking, well how on earth do I get from here to there? It’s never going to happen!
But it will, if you believe, have a plan and put in the work.
So, what on earth does this have to do with websites?
Well, let’s go back to the local business scenario. You may be able to do all you ever dreamed through word of mouth and to be honest with you word of mouth is one of the biggest ways to grow your business. But what if that word of mouth could spread much further than your town or local area.
Just think, if you had a new promotion or menu, only passers by can see that poster in your shop window. They may tell their friends but they are going to want to know more before they pop in, they may live a few miles away and passing your shop is not a route they normally take. They are going to want to know what the menu is, what times you are open, do they need to book – they are also going to want to see some images of the lovely tea and cakes you serve and how cosy and inviting your shop is, without having to actually go there before they are booked in.
Now the virtual assistant, you also work by word of mouth and recommendations but as above people want to know more about your business before deciding to work with you.
Just think what is the first thing you do before going somewhere or buying something, even if someone recommends it to you. You type their name in online and see what you can find out about that person or business.
People want to know who they are buying off, whether it’s a product or service and you can bet that if your product or service is exactly what they are looking for, or beyond what they are looking for, they will be prepared to pay more.
Think about this logically
My daughter keeps going through loads of charging cables for her phone as I just kept picking up cheap ones from ebay. But then looking back at the money I was spending I thought to myself why don’t I just pay the extra and buy from Apple – a brand I recognise and trust.
A brand…
That’s what you are when you are in business.
But I have a Facebook page…
You can tell I get this A LOT!
Think again about your customer buying process. Are you happy buying from someone who just has a Facebook page with a load of posts about their special offers?
I may be picky, but if I fancy going out for a meal and I Google some local restaurants I’m looking specifically for location, opening times and a menu and maybe some images of their food. I much prefer looking at a restaurants website rather than their Facebook page as with a few clicks I can get the information I need without having to scroll through their Facebook page feed. I may visit their Facebook page directly from the link on their website to find out a bit more – usually previous visitors photos of the food. But only once I know what I need to know and think it’s worth investigating a little bit more as I’ve liked what I seen on their website.
If they just had a Facebook page I would immediately think that they were a new or not so established business that they haven’t got round to building a website yet. I may still look at their page and decide to try them and they may be amazing. But I would probably follow them for a while, see what people post and maybe eventually get round to trying their meals.
So YES, having a Facebook page builds up trust and a relationship with your customer or potential customers. But I bet it’s not the first place they would look if they wanted to find out more about your business or what you are selling.
It’s all about your brand
It’s all about building that brand. It may only be you running your business at the moment but I’m assuming you want to build on that and to grow and have the business that you dreamed of right at the beginning, before all the hard work and complications wore you down. If you are just starting out you may be desperate to leave your current job so you can focus on the business you love full time.
People buy from who they trust and if they don’t know you personally then it’s all about the brand.
Just think of some big name companies and why you trust them and buy from them?
So how are you going to build this brand? How are you going to show people you really mean business and build relationships and get selling?
You’re not just going to have a Facebook page, a few adverts and a one page website (if any) – is that really the impression you want to make?
Remember we are dreaming big here!
So what’s stopping you?
I bet it’s time and money!
It’s always time and money – that’s what most things come down to, along with fear – fear of not being able to do something, not knowing where to start or of failing.
That’s where we come in!
Website Wonder Woman is run by women just like you, for women just like you.
It’s not just about a website, it’s about so much more.
It’s about achieving those big dreams.
It’s about building your business and brand.
It’s about showing people what you can really do.
It’s about pushing out of that comfy little box and taking over the world…