Would you rather sell to 10 customers or just 1 customer?
Now, as a small business owner I know what your answer is. Then you ask me, why such a question. That, indeed, is a very good question. Business is all about providing solutions, solutions that provide value to the end user in some form or the other. If you plan on selling your product or service, then by all means sell and why should that exclude people from around the world?
Coming to selling to people around the world, how difficult can it be if you are not dell or HP? I would say pretty difficult, especially with all the customer support you need to provide. But, how did Google which started off in a garage, became so popular? Why did twitter with possibly no revenue model till now land up with loads of venture capital funding? Why did eBay become so popular? The answer is so simple. They use a very powerful medium to communicate with the world, the INTERNET.
Almost everyone is on the internet doing something or the other. One person may be searching for something while the other person maybe sharing what he just did through facebook. Some other may be tweeting and yet another person may be blogging. How does it excite you as a small business owner? If you did not find the answer, let me help you out. You can monetize almost everything on the web!!!
Mark zuckerberg, the founder of facebook is termed as the man who monetized social networking. If he can monetize people’s interest to communicate, be sure that you can monetize almost everything. If you do a search online for any popular brands, you will come to see that they have not only their own websites, but also twitter accounts, facebook fan pages, blogs and what not. Why do big brands tend to have an online presence even though they are huge brands? Why do they care to establish themselves online even though they may be so popular that everyone would mention them at least 10 times a day?
Branding is a very big concept and something I will leave it to the experts to comment on. However, I could be an expert myself when it comes to online branding. It is critical that your business does have an online presence in some form or the other. The least you can do is set up a website for your business so that customers or potential customers can find you and learn more about your company and its offerings.
Now, when I say you need an online presence, do not get the idea that just having a website would get you that exposure you need. There are lots of other factors that come into play which I will be discussing in detail later. Having an online presence can prove disastrous if not done right. Normally what people do is, when they hear about a company or a product, they go over to their favorite search engine and search for your brand. When they find your website, they will probably look into what you have to offer and why they need to buy from you. This is your chance to sell more to them and at the same time establish in their minds that they need to buy from you.
Now, one thing you need to make sure is that it’s not only the idea that sells. Even though many people would tell you that benefits sells itself, which is not the case always. Suppose you build a product in the mp3 player segment. Something that outweighs apple iPod, and beats it hands down in the feature list. But do you think you can outsell apple iPod? Do you think the brand apple has created around iPod will let the consumers buy anything but apple products? But what if, you have established trust with your consumers? What if they have come across your website or have heard their friends mention it? There is a chance. Good products need an online presence to support it. Even if you are established, you need to reinforce your brand image in the minds of your consumers to sell more and sell repeatedly. What better ways other than blogging, facebook and twitter?
Even if your consumers are not online, you must have an online presence. Let’s say you sell apples from your farm. You wouldn’t find anyone from China ordering apples online, if your farm is on the US. So why would a website benefit you? Here are some ways having an online presence will help you in this case
- Find local buyers willing to buy from you
- Find local wholesale dealers
- Find people interested in importing your apples from the US to their country
- Connect with other sellers in your market segment
The possibilities are endless as you can see. This is just the extra business you might land up from having an online presence. This is just a random business niche and the possibilities are even more if your customers are more oriented towards computer and internet. Starting an online business is another story, but taking your business online is crucial for any business.
People search online for solutions and not just brands. If you know how to capitalize on that aspect of online users, then you are onto a winning business model. If you sell real estate properties, go online establish yourself and help others buy and sell properties by giving out valuable advice. This will help yourself get established as an expert and people will come to trust you more. This will lead to more sales for you as well.
So here are some steps you need to follow to take your business online
- Get a professional website done for your business and host it online using a reputed host like HostGator.
- Get onto twitter and facebook at the minimum and be active.
- Do not just promote your brand, but provide value as well.
