As the tried and true wisdom tends to go, you only get one shot to make a great impression. Sadly, many small businesses, and especially solopreneurs, just aren’t making the solid first impression that they need to in order to compete. If you want to compete against your rivals, or even with the big boys and girls, you must get your branding act together online or you business is going nowhere.
- The first things that really stick out and makes you look like an amateur with regard to your marketing is an inconsistent presentation. The most glaring example is that your visuals are all over the place. There are different company logos and colors everywhere. Decide on a certain look and that’s it. You must look the same whether at your social media platforms or at your About page. Your online presence must be solid throughout especially in your social media marketing. You need to claim and establish a domain name as well as any other social media handles. You can’t have twenty different “.com’s” for yourself or your business.
- Another challenge to looking like an amateur is that you aren’t careful about your content presentation. Typos and ignorance of proper writing is killing many a business branding effort online. If you are not that wonderful a writer, then hire someone that is. Too many small business owners try and do everything and end up looking amateurish.
- Looking like an amateur also means you have social media sites but rarely do anything with them. The are the key to your social media marketing and a successful online presence. You must be there and you must be doing it right if you want to drive traffic. In that same vein, if you are not responding right away to comments and complaints it will hurt you in the long run. This is your opportunity to look professional and get personal with certain customers. You simply can’t afford to ignore them. Do so, and they will surely take their business to one of your rivals.
- Cell phone photos at your site, outdated information, not being optimized for mobile, and a poor representation with regard to local listings and organic search are just a few more ways you risk looking like an amateur and losing market share to your competition. In these times of lightning movement regarding your business and its branding, you can’t afford to look like a second rate rank amateur. If you really don’t know how to do much of this, or you simply don’t have the time, you need to hire a team, or a professional and experienced outside firm to revue and establish a truly professional looking online presence for you.
-Written by Kevin Sawyer
