Many small business owners are experts in their field, with a loyal group of clients and knowledge based on years of experience. However, if you don’t have a digital footprint, you are not taking advantage of the efficiencies and marketing the internet has to offer. Learn how to upgrade your business into the digital era.
In order to survive as a business, you need to stay relevant. This means using the power of the internet to your benefit. Thankfully, going online is not that complicated. Check out the following steps. These will help get you started.
The Digital Era: Take Your Business Online
1. Website Creation
If you don’t already have a business website, you absolutely need one. Whether you realize it or not, people are probably already reviewing your business online, and you want to have your site show up when someone does an internet search. With dozens of companies offering very simple website design, you don’t have to hire an IT professional. Thankfully, most employees can figure it out with a computer in a few hours. A website offers advertising, ordering capabilities and an opportunity to educate your customers.
2. Social Media Campaign
The good news about joining social media is that it’s free. At a minimum, make sure your company has a FaceBook and Instagram account. Again, this doesn’t have to be time-consuming or costly. The sites are set up so that anyone with a computer can easily create an account. It could be a great project for a summer intern.
Next, it’s time to start using social media to your advantage. The most valuable thing about your business page will be the number of page likes/followers. Why? Because you can communicate with potentially hundreds of thousands of people for free.
Unfortunately, getting to a high number of fans/followers is not easy. That’s where setting up social media campaigns come into play. Through these campaigns, you can grow your page a lot quicker. You can also host giveaways, a very popular way of getting page likes and followers.
3. Financial Reporting
Are all of your records still kept on paper? Transitioning to digital record-keeping isn’t as scary as you think. You can easily contact an independent Quickbooks training professional to show you the program. They can also show you how it can fit into your line of work. You will be shocked at the amount of time saved, in addition to the ability to spot financial trends and areas of concern.
It’s time to take the leap and modernize your business by introducing better technology. It isn’t a huge time or financial investment; you simply need to make a commitment to building a website and joining social media. You should also digitize financial records, and you will soon be shocked at the ease of doing business online.