Carving out an Online Presence

December 28, 2012 by ·

     

Large businesses devote thousands of dollars to creating an online presence and building brand reputation. The more active a company is online, the more recognizable their brand becomes.

While freelancers usually lack the budget and advertizing staff used by large companies, they can still get their name out there and build an online presence. Most of these strategies cost very little in terms of money. What do they require? Time.

 

Get a Website

It’s possible to run an effective freelance business without your own website, but you’re operating at a disadvantage. A website gives you an immediate presence online and gives you a permanent place to display your talents.

 

 

photo credit: Stuart Miles

Blog and Guest Blogs

Whether you’re providing freelance writing services or building classroom furniture, you’re an expert in your field. Take advantage of this by blogging about your area of expertise. Over time, you build up an audience of regular readers. Link your blog to your website; it makes the site more attractive to search engines.

Don’t restrict yourself to your own blog either. Writing guest posts for other bloggers is an excellent way to get your name out there and gives you opportunity to link back to your own website. Only guest blog for high quality blogs, however; you don’t want your name associated with poorly maintained or suspicious sites.

 

Be Helpful

Spend some time every week hanging out on message boards, chats or LinkedIn forums that relate to your business. Such environments offer plenty of opportunity to make connections within your industry.

Be helpful and supportive on the forums, so you develop a reputation as an approachable expert. In addition to increasing your reputation in your industry, you can find possible mentors, business clients and friends. Don’t discount how important industry friends can be; many a freelancer has found work when a busy but friendly competitor referred clients to her.

 

Get Social

Social media offers excellent opportunities to build online awareness for both you and your services. If you’re a writer, start a Twitter feed with advice for writers. If you provide a physical product, display your products on Pinterest.

Using social media for self-promotion requires a bit of a balancing act. You don’t want to be too self-promoting or you’ll turn off people. The same strategy you use on industry message boards works well: be helpful, show off your personality and use obviously self-promoting content sparingly.

If you do use social media, give some serious thought to a well-designed logo. A logo helps people remember you, and can be used as your profile picture on multiple social sites and forums. If you don’t feel comfortable designing your own logo, hiring a graphic artist is well worth the expense.

 

Michelle is an aspiring writer who currently works for a company that sells classroom furniture. When she’s not working she’s blogging on anything and everything! She loves how blogging gives her the opportunity to improve her writing skills, voice her thoughts and opinions, and share advice with an unlimited audience.

Building your prescence online is a very important part of your business. Read Marketing in the Age of Google for great in depth information.

Filed Under: Branding Your Business, Building Your Online Business, Have a Website? ·

Building an Email Marketing List for Your Small Business

December 21, 2012 by ·

So, you’ve decided to add email to your small business marketing plan in the hopes of generating more traffic to your website or store, but you’re not sure how to get started. The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has some ideas to get you started:

 

  • Offer a reason or incentive to sign up. Possibilities include an -newsletter subscription, an opportunity to download a white paper or email updates to keep prospects notified of special offers or events. Provide a sneak peek via a link, but require visitors to your site to subscribe to read the full content.

“When in doubt, be very clear about what you have to offer,” says the SBA. “For example, if you’re trying to drive interest in your newsletter, post a link to previous versions so that subscribers can see what they will get and make their own decisions about what they are signing up for.”

 

photo credit: Stuart Miles

 

  • Display your opt-in form wherever you interact with your customers. Make it easy to access and simple to complete, and link it prominently on your website, your social media sites, your blog and your email signature.

“If someone buys something from your site, link to your opt-in form from the order confirmation page and email,” the SBA advises. “Alternatively, if a prospect downloads any information from your site, such as a white paper, give him or her the option of signing up for your newsletter from the thank-you page. And don’t forget to add a Forward to a Friend feature to your e-newsletters.”

 

  • Use your blog and social media networks to drive opt-ins. Visitors to these sites are your captive audience and should be your primary targets when building your marketing list. Link from your blog to other areas of your website, post links to your sign-up page on your Facebook page, provide social media followers a sneak peek of new content and Tweet about it.

 

  • Be aware of data privacy and CAN-SPAM laws. Develop an online privacy policy in compliance with consumer data protection laws and familiarize yourself with online marketing laws under the CAN-SPAM Act. The SBA provides an overview of privacy laws. Links for these are at the bottom of this article.

 

Finally, the SBA offers three list-building tactics that you should avoid as a small business owner. They include:

1.      Google ads, or pay-per-click ads, that the SBA says tend to work better for “larger brands and thicker wallets.”

2.      Purchased lists, including magazine subscriber lists and association member lists. “When you communicate with a purchased list you are doing so on an unsolicited basis and your email will fall on deaf ears or be flagged as SPAM,” notes the SBA.

3.      Banner ads, which are OK for big brand awareness but not so good for small business lead generation or list building.

Beth Longware Duff is a professional editor and award-winning writer whose work on a wide variety of topics has been published in print and electronic media. She currently writes on a wide range of topics dealing with electronic payment processing and virtual terminal credit card processing for Merchant Express.

Check out The links for CAN-SPAM and privacy laws here.

Want to read more about the importance of building a killer eMail List?

 

Filed Under: Building Your Online Business, Have a Website? ·
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