A Marketing 101 Series

Ask any business owner how stressful it was to start their business, and many of them will tell you it’s one of the scariest and most rewarding things they’ve ever done. It’s filled with highs and lows, big wins, hard conversations, and for many, the fulfillment of a dream to make it on their own. 

As marketers and small business owners ourselves, we’ve been there. There are so many things to do when starting out to get your online presence built it can feel overwhelming. This month, we’d like to spend each week focusing on the steps needed to not only get started online, but to also help you learn some steps along the way that can help you build your brand. 

In Week 1, we will focus on basics like building an email list, creating a social media presence,  and building a website. Week 2, we will pick up and learn about producing content, personifying your brand, and Mastering SEO. Week 3 will be all about learning to create value, developing relationships, and analyzing your results. Finally, Week 4 we will focus on adopting new forums, experimenting with online advertising, and influencer marketing.

We will link all of the previous posts into future articles in case you would like to go back and read any of them.

Today, let’s get started with the basics, and what should be the first things you set up when creating your online presence.

1 // Have a Social Media Presence

Once you have an idea and a plan for your new business, one of the first things to do is get social media accounts created. This will be one of the fastest ways to create awareness for your brand and connect with your potential audience. Regardless of your personal feelings regarding social media, for a business, it’s an essential element to growth and something you CANNOT ignore. 

Social media, for many, is one of the main paths to advertising and creating brand awareness. There are many platforms out there, and it can be easy to get overwhelmed by trying to post and keep up with all of them. The simple recommendation here: DON’T try to be on all of them. Pick 1-2 and be consistent. If you’d like more tools to help you get started on social media, check out another article we wrote that gives some great ideas on building your social network following.

2 // Make A Website

Making a website will also need to be a top priority once you have decided to move forward. Whether you create it yourself or have someone create it for you, this is a great resource for you to build to help educate your audience on what you do. A website doesn’t need to be complicated, it just needs to be designed well and contain important information your customers are looking for. You can always add pages, update wording, add photos, etc., but if you don’t have one, you have no place to send people for more information. Having a website also adds credibility for your business. 

3 // Build an Email List

Building an email list is one of the best ways to connect with an audience. For your first email list, don’t be picky. Include friends, family, former work contacts, and anyone else you can to help you get the biggest list to start. A word of advice here, is to make sure you have permission from everyone you will be sending business emails to. If your emails get reported as spam, email servers will filter it, and your email service may even revoke your ability to send further communications. As laws surrounding mass emails continue to get more strict, it’s VERY important to follow best practices here and make sure you’ve checked all the boxes around permissions. 

Email lists are hugely important for many businesses because these potential customers are usually asking to be a part of a list or email newsletter. Once you have an email list created, hang onto it, and get it into some kind of email program to begin communicating with people. 

If you can get these 3 things in place you’ll be well on your way to taking the next steps in the process, which we will discuss in next week's article. For next week, we will build on this foundation and cover creating content, being active online, personifying your brand, and mastering SEO. 

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