The Most Crucial Steps You’ll Take When Starting a Business

What steps do you have to take to build an internet presence for your business?

If you are new to the idea of e-commerce, then it can be overwhelming. Without a plan, it’s easy to get stuck on one thing to the exclusion of everything else. SEO, for instance, is a comprehensive study that can consume all your time.

Here is a 5-point plan to help you understand what areas to focus on when building your business.

1. Build a platform

Your website is your central hub; from it, you can build your social media network. Think of it as your home base.

Here are some things you’ll need:

1. You’ll need a good design, something trendy. Avoid using outdated designs. It makes you stand out—but not in a good way.
2. You’ll need to make your website easy to navigate. Increase usability: the ease of use.
3. You’ll need good copy on all your pages. The right words, for example, for a product description can improve sales.
4. You’ll need to make mobile a priority. Your website design should be responsive to a wide range of smartphones and tablets.
5. You’ll need a reliable payment gateway. Many services offer integrations to collect payments from major credit cards as well as local and alternative payment options.

• You’ll need a fulfillment service if you’re drop-shipping products.

2. Avoid Perfectionism

Avoid the danger of perfectionism while not slipping into complacency.

Here are some flaws with perfectionism:

• You spend too long perfecting things that don’t matter to your audience.
• You may never launch anything because everything is improvable.
• You drive yourself and everyone else who works for you crazy.

3. Track everything you do

Keep track of everything you’re experimenting with to see how it turns out. This will allow you to spot trends, cut ideas that cost money and take up bandwidth, and roll out the winners.

Routinely check all your metrics using Google Analytics.

4. Offer value when you show up

It’s essential to distinguish between media and value.

When it comes to media, you may have a website, a blog, a podcast, a YouTube channel, and major social networks. Yes, you’re now omnipresent. However, what type of impact are your messages creating? Positive? Negative? Lukewarm?

Providing value means giving people information that they did not know about before. This information should have a positive impact on their lives. You don’t have to create all this value yourself. You can also share the value you found somewhere else and mention it to your audience.

When it comes to value sharing, contribute 20% of your best ideas and 80% of other people’s ideas. It may seem counter-intuitive to mention other people’s products, but you’ll gain goodwill. Your audience will see that you are not in it just for yourself and are willing to share other resources as well.

5. Businesses are built on community.

When it comes to building a business, you need a community.

Your online community consists of people who follow you and people you follow on social media.

Your Social Media Platform

Social media is seductive. You can spend much of your time being social on all the top platforms. Yes, you are getting the word out, but you are neglecting other aspects of your business.

You only have so many hours available in your business and you have to figure out how to apportion it well.

Here are some tips:

• Decide in advance how much time you want to spend on social media.
• Avoid the temptation to be omnipresent. Instead, get good at three that you have tested. This way, you can focus on quality, rather than quantity.
• Create a content calendar. Use social media automation services to drip-feed your content.
• Focus on the long-term. Consistent posting rather than awe-inspiring posts make the difference in the long run.

Other People’s Social Media 

Before you become an authority figure, you have to churn out a lot of content over time and get around the right people.

Associating with people who know as much as you do or who know less than you do is what most people do. It’s comfortable, and it feels more natural. But the high achievers spend time associating with others who know much more than they do. This exposure to those who are doing so much better raises their game.

Online it is easy to associate with people who are doing well. Join their online community as a member without advertising your business. You will learn from the leaders and your peers. This forces you to raise your game.

Innovate

After you have followed these five steps, you have to keep up with breakthroughs in marketing. If you don’t, you’ll soon fall behind. So be bold and try out new ideas. Of course, you also don’t want to go overboard and chase every shiny object. Stick to what you do best, but continue to learn from those in your field.

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