The number of people who own home businesses is growing considerably thanks to advancements in technology and changing business practices. This group includes self-employed individuals or freelancers who work from home part-time as a side venture. It also includes small business owners who have chosen to devote their full-time professional life to running a home business.
Even though you are working from the comfort of your own home, you need to consider yourself a competitive professional if your business is going to be successful. If you are considering being a work-from-home freelancer or small business owner, you will need to have a strong focus on branding and marketing. With the right tools, you can build a strong brand and successfully promote it. This article will look at what home business owners need to know about marketing and how it is leveraged to create a successful enterprise.
Build a Landing Page
The importance of a landing page on your website should not be underestimated. It will be the first impression many potential customers and other professionals have of your business. The purpose of a landing page is to simply but definitively communicate what it is you do and your credentials as a professional.
The goal is to intrigue and impress customers from the very beginning so they will want to click through to your site and learn more. For this purpose, you should pay special attention to the title of your page, your page’s description, your tags, keywords and a main tagline. These elements are also part of your SEO and help boost your rankings in search engines, so use terms your customers are searching for. The landing page should also be simply laid out and aesthetically pleasing.
Find Great Apps and Online Communities
Even in your private life, you have probably noticed the sheer number of apps available for different purposes. There are just as many, if not more, apps that are effective for running and marketing a home business, and you should harness their power. Start by researching what kinds of apps are helpful for the type of business you run. For example, time tracking apps and social media management apps may be useful. You should then try different options out and see which ones work best for you.
Online communities relevant to your profession are great resources for a number of reasons. On these sites, you can participate in discussions and answer questions, which establish you as an authority on the subject. This also serves the purpose of getting your name out there to increase your reputation and discoverability with customers. You can also receive helpful marketing and branding advice from these online communities that can help you grow your business.
Use Social Media
Social media platforms provide you an excellent and inexpensive tool to grow your brand and promote your business. However, they must be used correctly. Your social media accounts should be linked to your website and vice versa. This means you should place social media buttons that link to your profiles on your site and even on your landing page. Links to your site should also be placed on your social media pages.
Social media accounts also have to be managed and updated frequently to stay relevant and maintain followers. You either need to budget the time for that, use helpful social media management apps or outsource your social media management to a third party. You don’t have to be on every social media site. Pick the ones most relevant to your business (for example, personal trainers sharing workout videos on YouTube) and focus your presence there.
Establish a Productive Home Office
You will never have enough time throughout the day to get work done in addition to marketing efforts and administrative tasks if you don’t establish a productive home office. A home office helps you focus on work and the design can even reinforce your brand. You can create a dedicated home office by converting or remodeling a seldom-used area of your home. Don’t forget to add appropriate lighting, furnishings and to shop for technology equipment you might need.
If you have family members, talk this over with them in detail so you can all come to an understanding. For example, you may decide to set certain times of the day as “do not disturb” hours. A good home office should have a door so the room can be shut off from the rest of the house while you are working. You should also remember to keep it tidy and uncluttered, which will boost your mood and productivity.
Give Without Expecting Anything in Return
Giving without expecting anything in return will improve your value as a professional and help grow your business at the same time. There are many things you can give. Free samples or trial periods are tried and true techniques to entice customers to buy. Less direct ways of giving include advice or useful information.
This can be done by guest blogging, adding content on your own blog or answering questions on a variety of sites. Sites where users post questions include answer sites like Quora, social media groups and forums like Reddit, to name a few. You should also make sure to interact with and respond to your followers on social media – like their posts, comment, follow back and more.
Reach Out to Influencers
Influencers are, essentially, people whose options matter. These can be authorities in the field, celebrities, public figures or other influential individuals. As their name suggests, these are people who have influence over others and can help build your credibility.
You can gain the assistance of influencers by guest posting on their blogs, receiving endorsements or interviewing them. If you interview them briefly, they will likely post the interview or link to it on their own site, which will generate exposure for you. Influencers may even be willing to enter into a business partnership with you or become a mentor figure, so you should never underestimate their power.
In Conclusion
It is easier than ever to set up and run a business from the comfort of your home. However, you must treat your endeavor like a serious commercial pursuit and work diligently to build your brand and market your products or services. If you can find ways to do this effectively, your new business will be able to expand its reach and grow beyond your wildest dreams.