I get it. BELIEVE ME, I do.
Creating an online focus is difficult.
Take a website for example. You’re picking a background: you like how gold looks on silver, but blue looks good too! And how about that flower picture for a header – never mind that your company is trying to sell shipping supplies. Oh, and the FONTS! Don’t even get me started on the millions of variations of fonts!
With all of these distractions, it’s understandable why a new company would struggle to create their online presence alone.
So, let’s keep it simple.
(1) Build a Basic Website
Start with:
- A Non-Distinctive Background
(No need to go electric green or fuchsia, readers & viewers don’t like that) - A Single Font
(I don’t want to hear that you like Times for the big words, Calibri for the small words, and Monotype Corsiva for quotes – you don’t need that many fonts) - An Icon/Logo Unique to You
(That little picture that’s connected to your company? It should be consistent and clear – I would use the old vs. new GSR logo as an example, ask me about it if you want to know) - An Accent Color
(I don’t want you to think that simple is boring, it isn’t. You CAN have color, you just don’t need to cause a bleeding of the eyes because of a mismatched rainbow on your site)
(2) Open Social Media
I believe Twitter and Facebook are the most important social media platforms because they are the most widely known.
The twitter account can be fun because you can follow people, be followed by people, and “tweet” things that interest you or are relevant to your company.
Facebook is a little more complicated because I would suggest making a Page rather than linking to a personal account. It takes some time, but the page will be easier to access for non-users, and it will also give Facebook users a place to reference you when they have a good experience.
(If they have a bad experience, it will also open an opportunity for you to be publicly apologetic – apologies go a loooooong way towards gaining clients)
Just keep in mind that whatever you say, tweet, post, share:
IT IS PERMANENT.
Don’t do something that would embarrass you to explain to your hero (or mother)!
(3) Know Your Audience
I cannot stress this enough.
You may want to sell your product to everyone, but not everyone is looking for your product.
Cater to those who are most likely to buy from you or work with your company.
Every market is looking for something different, so it is impossible for me to tell you who/what you should cater to (plus, I don’t know everything); however, whatever industry you are in, market as though you were selling to yourself!
Don’t create advertisements that you wouldn’t be interested in!
Kiminy Cricket 