Websites For The Small Business Superstars
I have a special place in my heart for small businesses. The one-person operations. The small teams. The multitaskers of the world. The Swiss Army knives of society. These outfits are the backbone of society in a lot of ways.
Owning a small business is a wonderful, rewarding, anxiety-filled adventure, that’s all wrapped up into one difficult to describe experience. If that sentence feels awkward, it probably is. Business ownership is impossible to describe with a mere sentence or two.
Those of you currently living this life know exactly what I’m talking about. Years ago, a friend and I started an online business. We literally started from a blank canvas. No clients. No logo. No marketing plan. No billing system. We did have a table, a couple of MacBook Pro’s, an old farmhouse, and internet access. And you better believe we had coffee.
Years later, we both went our separate ways, amicably, but those were some of the best years of my life. We literally were in charge of everything, including the not so glamorous tasks such as trash disposal, coffee pot cleaning (thank goodness for Keurig), etc… But I wouldn’t trade those experiences for anything, and the two of us still think back to that time frequently.
Anyway, thanks for allowing me a quick trip down Memory Lane.
The point is, us small business owners and teams are busy people. And while each small business I work with has things unique to them, there are also some common trends that I see when working with these superstars.
From my experience, here’s a few things that often lead to a successful web presence for a small(ish) business. And if you want more information, I know a “guy” that would love to be a part of your new or revamped online presence!
1. Room For Growth
We all want our businesses to not only survive, but grow, too. We strive to sell more. To potentially add more staff. More services. More products. All that stuff is great. And you want to make sure your website is built well, to grow along with you.
So how do you do that? Well, you talk to me, of course! But in all seriousness, when you build a house, you might think to build an extra bedroom, or make your kitchen a little bigger than what you think you need. And your website should be built with the same considerations. Think about what your business might look like a year or two down the road. Now, this doesn’t mean to double or triple your web design budget right off the bat! But it does mean to take those things into consideration.
And, make sure your website isn’t actually costing you time. When I meet with clients in the small business hemisphere, they’re all looking for ways to become more efficient, and to have more time in their day. That’s something I take real seriously, and I build their websites with that at the forefront. If I can build them an amazing website, and improve on some of their processes, I’ve done my job.
2. Get Your Name Out There
There’s lots of ways to do this, and there’s also no lack of companies that are more than happy to take your hard earned money, to provide services to “help” you. Don’t get me wrong…. There’s good companies out there, that if you are willing to pay, can make a big difference (keep in mind that there’s some bad ones, too) in getting your name out to the masses. But there’s a lot you can do on a much cheaper scale to get noticed. Here’s a couple of ideas I like to mention early and often to clients:
a. Don’t pay a large fee up front for SEO, Backlinks, etc…
There’s companies out there that will guarantee instant results when it comes to SEO. But it’s important to view SEO as a marathon, not a sprint. I encourage clients to focus on their content first and foremost. If you have high quality content, Google will love you for it. There’s much more to this story, but I can’t stress this enough: content is absolutely critical.
b. Build relationships on social media
Ahh, social media. I could write an entire series of posts on this topic alone. But like it or not, social media is not going away, and needs to be part of your marketing plan. Your approach, and what platforms you settle on, might depend on your type of business. But, if you read nothing else in this post, please read this:
Avoid the “hard sell” posts. As humans, we see ads constantly, selling us everything under the sun. It’s annoying. And people don’t typically fire up their social media accounts, just to see more sales pitches.
Instead, focus on the relationship with your followers. Provide value to them. Remember, they don’t have to follow you. They’re one click, tap, or swipe away from calling it quits with your brand. So, give them a reason to stay. Post fun, engaging material. Do a giveaway (we always did, and still give away t-shirts). Make their day a little better.
This doesn’t mean you can’t sell your products and services on social media. You absolutely can. But don’t robo-copy and paste your sales pitches every time. If you focus on the relationship with your followers, you’ll get sales.
3. You’ve Got Skills
Depending on your market, you may or may not know all of your competition. And in our inter-connected world, a world where same day delivery is a reality, you have a lot to compete with.
Let’s say I make custom cabinets. And let’s say I make the best cabinets in the world. Who’s my competition? Well, locally, there’s perhaps somebody across town who also thinks they make the best cabinets the world has ever seen. And there’s probably somebody in the next town over, and the town after that. You get the idea.
And we haven’t even talked about big box stores like IKEA, Home Depot, etc…
So how do you compete and get noticed in this kind of landscape?
Well, I am admittedly biased, but I believe a professional website and social media presence is a great start. Tell your story. Tell people why there’s extra value to having you custom make their cabinets, as opposed to taking the minivan over to IKEA. Help them understand the care and pride you take in making and installing their custom cabinetry. Post images. Post experiences. Post tips and tricks. Make yourself a resource for them.
You won’t win everybody over. There’s still people that will drive to IKEA. But if you gain even a handful of clients from your efforts, it’s worth it!
I salute you, small business people. You’re my type of people. You are rockstars!
If you want to read more about my small business offerings, jump over here.
