Tag: business

Starting and running a successful online business is not easy; it involves many details and considerations. You need to choose a product that is in demand, grow your online presence, and drive traffic to your site, among many other factors. Read on to learn how to start your online business in the internet jungle of 2020.

Generate a Viable Business Idea 

Come up with a few different online business ideas, and choose the most feasible one based on your niche and target audience. There are various business ideas that you can consider, and online drop shipping can be a good one since it does not involve a large inventory. You do not have to manufacture or store any products when you choose this type of business. Instead, you will be selling different products manufactured by other companies, and your role will be only to market these products and attract customers online.    

Before you start selling online, you must find the right niche that you will focus on. You need to conduct market research to evaluate the viability of the market you are considering. Think about different things that can impact your new business by evaluating the trending products in the market. Additionally, you must also conduct a competitive analysis to help in branding and positioning your business.  

Optimize Your Sales Funnel Strategy

The sales funnel strategy involves different steps that affect customer behavior.  Analyzing your sales funnel is crucial, as it helps you identify the weak points that may exist in each stage where some prospects will lose interest and never become paying customers. The digital marketing funnel consists of different stages that start from creating an opportunity, connecting with potential customers, converting them into paying clients, and ultimately, closing the sale. 

Visitors land on your website through your search engine optimization strategy (SEO) that determines your site’s ranking on search engine results pages (SERP). The method uses unique searchable keywords that drive organic traffic to your site, marking the beginning of the sales funnel journey. The marketing consultants at https://marketing-leap.com/one-funnel-away-challenge-review/ explain that customers usually go through different stages before making their first purchase. You need to create brand awareness to catch the customers’ attention to know what your business offers. To spark the customers’ interest, you must then provide relevant content that will help them decide whether your products or services are right. At the decision or conversion stage, the customer will be ready to buy, so you need to be prepared to close the sale. 

Choose the Right Ecommerce Platform

Without the right e-commerce platform, your online business may not realize its intended goals. You should choose a channel that uses powerful software that can help you generate quality leads and attract traffic to your site. When the site is up and running, you need to stay on top of all the important details, starting with your customer engagement rates to your customer support and follow-up care. By closely monitoring your site’s performance, you can implement the necessary measures to help your venture grow.  

Create an Email Marketing Campaign

As you start building your customer base, you also need to bolster your business by using an email marketing campaign to generate quality leads by providing relevant and engaging content to your target clients. As little as one email per week can help you stay connected with your customers. If you want this strategy to be effective, you can personalize the emails and address the customers by their names. This helps create trust and promote loyalty between the customers and your business, as it makes them feel that they are valuable assets to your company. 

It is important to continually provide valuable information that can help the customers solve different problems they may encounter. Make an offer at the end of the email that compels the leads to take action. Always keep in touch with your customers and thank them for investing in your products or services. Interacting with your customers through social media will also help you create a strong bond with them. 

Measure Online Success

You must measure your online success using analytics that will help you evaluate various key performance indicators. As your business grows, your sales funnel might require some tweaks as you begin to learn more about your customers. You may also be interested in diversifying your products and services down the line, and you will need the right information to do so. That is why it is vital to track your conversion rates to measure the success of your sales funnel. You must pay attention to each stage of the funnel to pinpoint the areas where certain changes are required. 

Understand Business Laws

Before you launch your product, you must be aware of the online business laws to avoid common pitfalls that can impact your new business. Start by reading up on laws regulating shipping, zoning, and trademark considerations to get insight into how your chosen market operates. You also need to analyze the market further to understand your real shoppers’ needs and interests. Only when you fully understand your prospective customers will you be ready to start operating. 

Scale Your Business

When your business reaches a stage where it’s performing steadily and strongly, you can gradually scale it to reach a wider audience. If you want to grow your business successfully, you must ensure that you regularly conduct market research to understand your customers’ ever-changing needs. It is always a great idea to learn from the industry’s top experts. Get first-hand information on how to make it in the e-commerce world by consulting other successful entrepreneurs who managed to grow their small businesses and become successful.  

Starting an online business can be quite challenging. First off, you need to come up with a viable market idea and identify your niche to start building your venture. You must also design a quality website for your business and provide unique and engaging content to generate quality leads and help your target audience find what they will be looking for. When you close a sale, try to retain the customer so that they can make repeat purchases.    

Small businesses face a lot of challenges throughout their journey towards success. Being able to overcome these obstacles and persevere through the hard times is what gives a business the ability to succeed. While there isn’t one fixed blueprint to follow to grow your business, there are tons of different tips and tricks that every successful business out there utilizes to their advantage.

Research Who You’re Up Against

One of the first things that a small business should do is to study their opponents in the market.  It’s more likely that they’ve been around for much longer and have more experience. This can give you very good insight into vital information like their prices, product quality, and marketing strategy. Doing this makes it much easier to tell what the standard in the market is while also highlighting any possible advantages that your business has over theirs.

Go The Extra Mile For Your Customers

An issue that most small businesses can’t overcome is their low customer retention rates. It’s very easy for customers to be swayed away by the larger businesses in the market, so making your customers feel valued and appreciated at your business can make a big difference in developing their loyalty. This requires your business to be very fast with resolving any complaints that the customers may have or answering any questions regarding your products/services.

Have A Clear Picture Of Your Target Audience

Large businesses spend millions of dollars every year researching their target audience’s behavior and there’s a very good reason why. Understanding the people you’re trying to sell your products/services to makes all the difference in how you’re going to market yourself to them. A business that doesn’t accurately figure out what their target audience likes ends up failing to grab their attention, rendering all their marketing efforts useless.

Utilize The Power Of Social Media Platforms

The average person spends around 2 and a half hours a day on social media, which means that there’s an opportunity for your customers to be searching for a product that you offer at any given moment of any given day. Using social media isn’t as simple as it’s perceived to be as a lot of time and effort is required to be able to create good social media content that grabs people’s attention. Every social media platform has its own set of tricks that you need to learn, so find out which ones your customers use the most so that you can begin creating content there.

Participate In Local Events

Making your business known in your neighborhood can be a great way to acquire a good amount of customers in a short time, as the location will be convenient. Making yourself known to your neighborhood community can be done easily if you either participate in local events, sponsor these events, or even host them yourself. This can be a great way of improving your reputation locally while also potentially attracting customers through word-of-mouth.

Prioritize Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Under 6% of people who search for things on the internet visit the second page on Google and only under 1% visit any page after the third. If your website is buried under hundreds of other websites then the chances are that no one’s visiting it when they search for products that you offer. SEO changes that through optimizing keywords using effective SEO management that causes your website to shoot up the results, potentially making it the first result that your target audience sees whenever they search for things related to your business. This significantly impacts the traffic that your website gets so make sure it’s capable of handling it without any speed issues.

Always Be On the Watch For Trends

The market can shift very quickly towards a specific direction and if your business isn’t ready to adapt then it might lose out on a big opportunity that can help its growth. Jumping onto new trends as quickly as possible can greatly boost sales throughout that period, just make sure that the quality doesn’t drop due to hasty manufacturing. Some trends are seasonal, like Christmas, while other trends can appear out of nowhere, so you’ll have to always be ready when one of them appears.

Expand Your Team Whenever Possible

As your business grows, it’ll be harder to maintain the same quality of work without hiring more people to lessen the load on your existing employees and yourself. This can benefit the quality of work immensely as having more people makes it easier for everyone to put in all their effort into a small number of tasks rather than having a small set of employees that compromise quality by focusing on way too many tasks.

Remain Goal-Oriented

After creating short-term and long-term goals for your business, maintain them by regularly checking if you’re on track to achieving them by the date that you’ve set. This can easily be done through proper data management as setting it up correctly will automatically cross-reference the results that you require with the results that you’re currently getting. If you’re failing to achieve your goals, figure out what the problem is, and solve it. If you’re on course for achieving the goals that you’ve set, then keep up the good work and start planning your next set of goals.

Partner With The Right Businesses

Some products/services synergize very well, like cereal boxes and milk, making it very beneficial for businesses from each industry to partner together to create new products and promotions that attract customers that would be interested in both businesses simultaneously. Search for a business that offers products/services that complement the ones that you offer and begin thinking of how you could utilize this to your advantage. Once you come up with a good plan, set up a meeting with the business you’re interested in and make your proposal.

It can be quite a frustrating journey for a small business to grow while battling against large businesses that offer better quality products at lower prices.  However, thousands of businesses have turned the odds in their favor by using different tricks to acquire a loyal customer base. Patience plays a huge role in achieving that success that most businesses desire, as most businesses will tell you a lot more about the trouble that they’ve encountered throughout their way rather than what they currently have.

In today’s digital age, most companies prefer to work remotely or outsource services to save time and money. One such remote service is customer and reception service. Today, many companies are hiring answering services, which can positively impact a company’s reputation, sales, and customer reviews. Hence, it is necessary to do your research and hire a competent answering service that is not only more proficient than an in-house customer service department but is also more affordable and manageable. If you are thinking of hiring an answering service for your company to improve customer service, now is the right time. But, how does one choose a qualified answering service? Continue reading on to find out what you should look for in an answering service.

1.    Packages Offered

Affordability is one of the most important factors when hiring an answering service. Depending on the size of your business, you will have a designated budget to hire an answering service. You should do your research to determine the cost of their services and look at the packages they offer. Certain answering companies offer additional services along with the basic ones, such as call screening, appointment setting, call forwarding, setting appointments, web access, and some other applications and services. If these align with your company’s needs or could benefit it in some way, such packages should definitely be considered. In some cases, you can even take the plunge and discover new services and witness the way it benefits your company along the way.

2.    Training and Expertise of the Staff

Needless to say, the staff of any answering service should be skilled and trained to conduct any type of interaction. Whether your company handles legal matters or manufactures products, it is your right to measure and determine the expertise of the service’s staff since you are entering a partnership for a prolonged period. Question the staff and call operators to ensure that they are adequately trained to handle any questions about your business. While conducting this research, also find answers to questions like – Do they work remotely or at a designated site? Are they aware of your industry values? Do they have prior knowledge about your discipline? Are they quick on their feet? Do they sound polite and professional? Along with expertise, training, and skills, the amount of experience should also be considered.

3.    Confidentiality

Every company needs to follow certain ethics, which mainly comprises trust, privacy, and confidentiality. The interaction between a company and a potential customer should be encrypted and kept private, and the same applies to an answering service as well. The skilled operators at TelephoneAnsweringService.org.uk highlight that confidentiality and privacy are key to gaining a customer’s trust. As a company, you are placing your trust in the answering service to maintain customer confidentiality, which is why it is necessary for an answering service to maintain discretion at every step, from the very first introduction to filing the customer claims and requests. Look for an answering service with operators who are trained in maintaining confidential information. If possible, look for a service that specializes in HIPAA-compliant calls.

4.    Availability

There is no point in hiring an answering service if it is unavailable during your prime business hours. The service should be quick on its feet and ready to answer all calls at any moment. This is necessary because a single missed call could lead to a major loss. To avoid this, look for an answering service that operates in your time zone or has similar operating hours. Some businesses are more active during the night, which is when an opposite time zone comes to your rescue. Also, some answering services offer 24/7 availability, which is necessary for some types of businesses. Even if the answering service does not operate 24/7, look into the types of emergency plans and backup options that they offer. What is their emergency strategy in case they missed a call? What is their outlook on disaster planning and redundancy?

5.    Language Assistance

If your business attracts non-English speakers, you should ensure that the answering service is ready to assist them in the customer’s preferred language. In such cases, a bi- or trilingual answering service is necessary to break the language barrier. It is easy to lose a potential customer who does not speak your language, so taking the time to understand the customer means money saved. Take note of the types of customers you get, relevant reviews, and the language they speak. For example, if a majority of your customers prefer to speak Spanish or English, a bilingual answering service that is fluent in these two languages is preferable. In case you attract many international clients who speak varied languages, look for an answering service that can deal with multiple languages. Even though it may demand some extra expense, it is worth the investment.

6.    Connection and Routing Options

All your efforts are in vain if the connection and routing options offered by the answering service are poor. If all calls are managed at one common location, call diverting can be an issue as it often causes confusion and mistakes. It not only causes misunderstandings and probable losses but also affects your company’s reputation. Even if the call is diverted to an expert who works for the same service, human errors are still possible due to poor connection or miscommunication. To ensure that your company’s customer service is lauded, consider every aspect of connection and routing options offered by the answering service.

By choosing a capable and reputable answering service, you can boost your own company’s reputation and convert leads into sales. To find the right service, it is necessary to do a little research, compare different providers, and read customer reviews to ensure that your company is represented by the best customer service representatives. After all, this will directly affect your company’s sales and identity. With hundreds of reliable answering services on the market, you’ll have a myriad of options to choose from.

Building an online presence often means you going out on your own and starting from scratch. There’s a high chance that you won’t have any IT department to set up your email and you won’t have a design guru to make your logo either. All of this ultimately means that you may end up handling a lot of the work yourself, which is great, but you still need to make sure that your image is as professional as possible at all times. Want to find out more? Simply take a look below.

Get a Dedicated Phone Number

Having a phone number that is completely dedicated to your business is a no-brainer to say the least. The great thing about having a dedicated phone number is that it gives you the chance to share your contact information without having to give out your personal phone number.  You can probably go down the old-fashioned route and get a dedicated cell phone number for your company but it’s probably just easier and cheaper for you to take out a Google Voice number instead. First of all, it’s free, and secondly, you have the option to route all of your voicemails. If you are looking for that professional shine, then you may want to boost your social media presence too. An Instagram like bot can help you to get a good start.

PO Box

Again, it’s now time for you to separate the professional from the personal. If you have a PO box, then this will give you the chance to set up a mailing address for your suppliers without you having to worry about giving away where you live. Plus, if you do this then you know that any packages you receive will be safe as opposed to sitting on your doorstep in the pouring rain. If you want to take things a step further, then why not use a service? This way you can get a full address rather than just a PO box. When you invest in something like this, you can get packages from all major couriers without having to worry about a thing. Another plus to getting an actual address would be that you can appeal to your local customers. A lot of the time seeing a local business can invoke a sense of loyalty, so keep that in mind.

Get a Domain Name

You need a very quick way for people to find you. A lot of services offer a free domain name whenever you sign up. This means having a long, wordy and very impersonal URL. Sure, this may work for getting things up and running super quickly, but it won’t work for the long-term. Ideally, you need to switch to your private domain as soon as you possibly can. When you choose your domain name, it’s helpful for you to make sure that it is short and sweet where possible. At the end of the day, people are much likely to remember a simple domain as opposed to one that is complicated.

Starting a small business is a wonderful experience that can give you financial freedom if your venture thrives. To achieve this, you need to find effective means of funding your business so that it can expand. This in turn will help generate more revenue for your venture. However, many small business operators often experience hurdles in sourcing funding for their businesses. The good news is that there are different options they can consider to get money for developing their businesses. 

Here are some efficient ways to fund your small business expansion. 

Get A Loan

Loans are the most common form of funding businesses by different people. There are different types of loans that you can consider for your business. For instance, small business administration loans (SBA) can offer you great relief when you want to expand your business. It is essential to check their requirements first to see if you qualify to get funding. You can also consider bank loans where some funds are set aside for small businesses. 

There are also different sources where you can access funding for your small business. It is important to shop around for the right lender that can satisfy your needs. When you apply for a loan, it is essential to understand the terms and conditions so that you will not experience challenges when it comes to repayment of the money. You also need to know the interest rate and the period for repaying the money. In case you delay making your payment, you should know the penalties and fees if any so that your business will not suffer a lot.  

Get The Right Insurance

Every business is supposed to have insurance to protect it against eventualities that can impact its operations. However, choosing the right policy for your small business can be challenging since the insurance industry is characterized by still competition. Additionally, some policies may be expensive for the size of your business. This useful site can give you insight into different insurance policies available on the market. You must get quotes from different insurance companies so that you can come up with the best deal that can suit the needs of your venture. You also need to choose insurance for your cars wisely so that you will not spend a fortune on vehicles. You can use part of the money to fund your business if you choose your vehicle insurance wisely. 

Crowdfunding

Crowdfunding is another efficient way of raising money for your business. This method involves small amounts of money to different people that are used to finance a small business. Social media and crowdfunding websites are used to create a network of entrepreneurs and investors together. Business owners create profile pages that outline their business and fundraising goals. The individuals who make donations are promised something once the business becomes viable. Crowdfunding also presents an opportunity for anyone with a good business idea to pitch up and it helps generate thousands of dollars for a variety of business ventures. You need to reach your fundraising goals otherwise the donors can take their money back if you fail to raise sufficient money.

Small Business Grants

You can consider getting small business grants to fund your entity. There are several types of small business grants offered by the government or other organizations concerned about developing small businesses. You need to put your documentation in order so that you can increase the chances of getting the grant. However, you should know that there is usually a cap for different types of grants that you can get. Therefore, you should also seek additional funding for your business and not rely on grants alone.  

Get Funding From Friends And Relatives 

The other effective way of funding your small business expansion involves money that you can get from friends and relatives. The advantage of this method is that it does not involve a lot of paperwork and approval is based on mutual understanding. Once you agree on different terms and conditions, you can easily get the money that you can invest in your business. However, you need to know that this kind of loan can spoil your relationship if you fail to repay the loan as agreed. Once you get money from friends and colleagues, make sure you invest it in your business so that it can generate more revenue.   

Sell Assets That You Can Do Away With

You can also consider selling assets that you can do away with to raise money to fund the operations of your business. For instance, you can sell items like electricals and jewelry that you can do away with. If you have many cars, you can consider selling one so that you can fund your business venture. This will also help you to reduce the expenses in terms of paying premiums for each vehicle’s insurance. 

Equity

If you have a home, then you can consider getting an equity loan that you can use for expanding your business. This loan is relatively cheaper compared to other forms of credit since you use your home as collateral. The lenders offer favorable conditions if they realize that you are not higher risk than borrowers without collateral. With this kind of loan, you can quickly boost your business such that you can repay the loan gradually when your venture begins to generate more revenue.    

Use A Credit Card

You can also use your credit card to fund the operations of your small business. However, you need to be very careful with this option since it can trap you in credit which can worsen your financial future. The moment you delay in repaying the money you owe, your credit history is impacted and this can affect you in the future when you want to secure loans for different purposes. 

Many small businesses fail due to a lack of funding. If you own a small business and you want to find ways of funding it, there are many options that you can consider. While these options can give you relief, you should honor your obligation and do the right thing about repaying the loans. You should also avoid mixing personal funds and business money.