Thinking of Starting Your Own Business?

Ever dreamt of starting your own business but you might be wondering where do I start? What should I focus on?  or……….What is the next step for me?  How can I turn this into a full-time, profitable career that I absolutely love?  Yep.  That was me.  I’ve been there. 

When I first had the idea of launching my own business, I was terrified out of my mind. I thought to myself what would I even do?  What could I possibly sell?  I knew what I was good at but at the time, I didn’t know how to package it in such a way for me to start selling to potential clients.  All I knew was I had to put everything into it in order for it to work.  And that’s exactly what I did.  I spent hours, days, week, and months educating myself on EVERYTHING there was to know about online businesses.

What I have learned is that starting your own business can seem really scary at first. However, if you’re ready to say goodbye to that 9-5 job and become your own boss, then there’s no time like the present to actually go for it. At the same time, you do need to make sure that you’re ready.   Like myself, you’ll want to do your research and really work to ensure that you have all the right tools and resources around you that you need.  

Now a days, there are plenty of tools you can use to build an online business that makes the technical work a lot easier than it was in the past.  No business or marketing experience is needed and best of all, you don’t need thousands and thousands of dollars to get started.  In fact, you can get many internet businesses up and running with no money at all because so many free services enable the possibility.  Whether you’re planning on launching an entirely online business or not, it is very important that you utilize the right resources that are available online.

Here, I list five things to get your business up and running  that you may find really useful to you.

ONLINE ESSENTIALS EVERY BUSINESS NEEDS

1. Your Website

First things first, there’s your website. If you are selling online, then this is going to be your most important asset anyway. If you’re not, you will still find that having a website allows you to be able to provide information on your business, products, or services to your customers that are online.

For this, you’re going to want to get some web SEO in place and a great design that works with your branding. When you work with professionals for this, you will find that you have a great website in place that can become the basis of your business activity online.

2. Email Lists

Considering building an email list, but have some doubts about why it is needed? Many business owners and bloggers don’t realize the importance of building an email list when they’re first starting out.  With the predominance of social media, and several other forms of messaging, the traditional email format feels relatively old. However, it still remains one of the most powerful and thoroughly understood modern forms of communication. For business owners, email lists can yield dramatic rewards. And although it can be scary to start, having an email list is a vital component when it comes to email marketing.

According to the Direct Marketing Association, email marketing sees a 4300 percent return on investment (ROI) for businesses in the USA. Because email subscribers join your email list from your website and will verify their identity by clicking on a link (double-opt-in), they are extremely interested in what you have to offer. This is why they are more likely to convert into paying customers.

One of the great things about having an email list is that you own it.  That’s right. You own your email list.  You do not have ownership of Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, etc. And when those platforms crash or have technical difficulties, you will have your email list to fall back on.  Some people can go for a few days without checking social media but most people check their email several times a day.

3. Social Media Profiles

Here’s one simple fact……your business will need a social media presence.  To help you increase awareness of both your business and your website, you need to have social media profiles.  Social media offers many benefits to business owners, as it allows them to reach out to their customers and to gain the attention of more people/potential clients.With social media, you have endless opportunities to connect with your audience, increase awareness about your brand, engage loyal followers, and drive sales.  

If people don’t know about your business, they can’t become your customers. With more than three billion people around the world using social media every month, it’s no fly-by-night trend.  The keynote is to make sure that you use the correct platforms your target audience are interacting on so that you can prioritize your presence in the right places. Best of all, it’s free to create a business profile on all the major social networks, so you have nothing to lose.