As an entry-entrepreneur, taking a step back to look at how far you’ve come to building your business, you may find that there may be minor setbacks caused by anxiety, a lack of finances, or even at a loss of what the next best step is to growing your business.
Within growing your business and being an entrepreneur, this means you may have to take on roles that you are not used to. You must become a “Jack-of-all trades” type in order to best suit your business and to keep your budget to a minimum. This may seem like a waste of time when you can just hire someone else to complete tasks but it’s your business and it is something that should solely be based on your efforts and dedication.
This article will be a way to understand and execute how to grow your business through self-promotion and the handfuls of ways to do it on your own.
First you must understand and grasp that business in general is not easy to figure out. As an entrepreneur, you must understand and teach yourself ways of business and marketing. Creativity and persistence will be one of your greatest attributes if you use them wisely. Dedication to a product or service and giving it that extra sparkle is what will get your business noticed amongst the rest.
Here are a few things you should check off or keep in mind before you start promoting your business:
+ Know your target market
+ What’s the best way to reach my market?
+ Trademark your business for easy recognition
+ Create a promotional plan that explains to customers why they would want to use or purchase your product/service
+ Quality customer service and feedback should be mandatory
Self-Promoting My Business and Myself: What are my options and how do I get noticed?
1. Create an online presence- nowadays more and more people are leaning towards online businesses because it’s cheaper and being online is like being viral-anyone who you allow, can see you and what you’re doing
2. Build your contacts through: LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Google+, KickStarter, personal websites, WordPress, Tumblr, StumbleUpon, other blogs, etc
3. Not only creating these accounts through these various social media sites, you must keep it consistent. You want people to see you; so don’t stop at 1 post a week–you must make an impression; the more you post, the more your name pops up, the more recognition you will obtain. Check out HooteSuite where you can maintain over 5 different social media sites all on one page.
4. Vocalize your mission and dedication to your business. Tell people why this is important to you and why it should be to them.
5. With not only keeping your posting consistent you should also give feedback to customers that may or may not be satisfied with your service or product. Your customers will be grateful that you responded to their needs or positive feedback. This allows customers to see that you care and the more you give feedback the more positive recognition you’ll most likely get.
6. Ask for testimonials; People like to respond or critique a product or a service when they are given option to do so.
7. Include extra keywords or tags into your social media profiles so that your business makes an appearance on more people’s computer screens.
8. Create an Android or iPhone app. Mostly everyone has a smartphone where they can search or look up their favorite sites or services through an app on their phones. Why not have your customers share an app they can enjoy while being connected to your business on their phones.
9. Be-friend other businesses that are similar to your target market’s interests. Maybe there is room for a co-op opportunity?
10. Be original! Do what you think is best for your business and your customers. Figure out something that no one has ever seen before. Be creative in branding yourself and promotion. Always remember to find the most beneficial ways to branding yourself in the most creative ways possible but while keeping a professional and reliable reputation visible.