I consulted a home-based business owner who was looking to expand. The first thing I noticed was that he didn’t have a business website, nor a Facebook page, a Google+ page, or anything of the sort. I was surprised. When I brought it up with the owner he said that originally he didn’t think he needed a website or that it made financial sense to have one. I guess my puzzled look got him thinking and he added that it did take him a long time to reach the customer base his market research had predicted.
[Read more…] about Get Online! (Case Study)
Three Steps to Starting Your Online Platform
Convinced that you need to be online? Good. Now what?
Get a Website and Set-up Social Media
Step 1: Get a website
If you are just starting out with your online presence I recommend using WordPress. WordPress is not just a blogging platform and you don’t have to have a blog if you use WordPress for your site (but you can).
WordPress is an easy to use, elegant platform that comes with a plethora of ready-made services for you to use. Most importantly, it is set up to encourage interaction between you and your target audience, so, essentially, it is a website with social media capabilities (for example, site visitors can comment on your pages, if you allow it).
With WordPress you need to choose between two options:
- A hosted WordPress.com site – free, before you add upgrades.
- A self hosted WordPress.org site – for which you will need to acquire a hosting package and a domain name (a URL) to get started.
If you need help choosing between the two Contact me .
Once you choose your website’s platform you will need to set up accounts and adjust WordPress to fit your needs. This can take between 30 minutes and a few days depending on your needs and what you have ready before you start.
Step 2: Pick the initial social media network to focus on
There’s Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and more. When you are new to social media and online marketing I recommend to only focus on one platform to publish content (especially if you are a one-man band or have limited time and money). The reason for this recommendation is that social media is not a place for you to spit out content, but rather a place for you to interact with your audience. It is easier to do it well when you only have one “extension” to your site.
Which social media network is right for you? The one that your target audience mostly uses and preferably the one you know best and feel most comfortable with. It helps if you already have a presence on the social media network of your choice, so that you can invite your contacts to connect with your brand and increase your visibility.
Once you make your choice you should set up an account, upload content and so on. A very important part of this step is connecting your account on the social media network of choice with your website, which includes:
- Putting your website’s URL somewhere in your social media profile (e.g. in the about section).
- Connecting your website with your social media network of choice by using WordPress’s widgets and plugins (e.g. using Publicize to publish your blog posts on social media).
Step 3: Join Other Social Networks
You will mostly create content on your social media network of choice, yet you should join other social media networks as well. On these social media networks you will have a presence, but for the most part you won’t be publishing content. Why join more networks without putting up content?
- So people can find you, even if they are not on the social media network that you selected on the previous step
- To get a better understanding of how these social networks work, who is on them, and whether you’d like to use them more
Again, be sure to include a link to your website as part of your profile.
And that’s it – you are ready to go!
Worksheet: Define Your Business Model
I use the following worksheet for initial conversations with clients, especially startups. If the company is at a very early stage, then defining the business model can take a few iterations. If the business is more defined then the output of the worksheet is the beginning of a serious conversation. If you only have a general idea of what your business is going to be, then you will benefit from completing this worksheet.
General Business Model Worksheet
At this point our goal is to create a back of the envelope description, an outline for a five minute discssion where we answer the question: how does your business idea make money?
It’s not meant to be a pitch, you’re not selling anything. You’re trying to communicate (to your business partners, to a consultant, or even to yourself) what you do and why it is valuable, perhaps even sustainably valuable.
If you can illustrate some of it – do it.
Okay let’s start.
Define the product
Describe your product in two sentences. Something along the lines of:
my product is a ______ (software/gadget/piece of clothing/service/etc.) that takes ____ (what’s your input?) and generates ____ (and your output?).
What is the value proposition of your business?
- Customer – Who’s your customer? (focus on the ideal type, the ideal customer)
- Customer Problem – What customer problem are you solving? (or define it in terms of what customer needs are relevant?)
- Proposed Solution – How does your product/service solve the problem?(or how are you satisfying customer needs?)
- Added Value – What value is created to the customer because the product/service exists?
Do you have a competitive advantage? Is it sustainable?
- Competitive Advantage – What are the advantages of your product/service over existing solutions?
- Is it sustainable? Is it inimitable to a level that will maintain profitability over time? How so?
Profitability ($$$)
Okay, you create value. But how do you capture value for profit?
- How do you collect payment?
- What are the distribution channels?
- How do you compensate suppliers?
Image for this post on homepage slider “Choices” by Akuppa John Wigham. Used under creative commons license.