One of the greatest problems with starting a new business is the fact that no one really wants to do business with someone who has just started if they have a choice.
Let’s be completely honest, if you have an opportunity to work with industry rookies or industry veterans, who would you chose? So, a small business that’s just starting out really only has three possible ways out.
First, they can offer something new to the industry, which is not as easy to achieve as it sounds.
Second, they could start offering more competitive prices, which is something that will seriously damage their ROI, move them further from the break-even point and even put the survival of their business at jeopardy.
Lastly, they could try to make their business appear more reputable, more legitimate, more… well, serious-looking. For the time being, let’s focus on the latter method as the simplest, most cost-effective and the most reliable of the three.
5 Ways to Make Your New Business Venture a Serious Company
Here are several tips on how you can pull this off.
1. Start with a website
Think about it, what’s the first thing that a potential customer may do when they hear about your business? Probably look you up on Google, right? So, what happens if they can’t find you or don’t see your website at the top of search results, even after directly typing in the name of your company in the search box?
You might think that having a Facebook or LinkedIn page for your business may be the same thing, however, it will make you look both unprofessional and less legitimate.
In other words, you need to invest both in website design and SEO in order to get the desired results. Failing to do so can have devastating effects and even damage your WOM recommendations, which are supposed to be the most reliable of all your sales tools.
2. Be omnipresent
Previously, we’ve, perhaps unjustly, mentioned your social media presence in a negative context. It’s not that you don’t need all of these social media profiles, it’s just that you want your website (always) to go first. That being said, you need to become present on every social media that you know of, even if you aren’t going to be as active on all of them. At very least, your company needs to have a Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and YouTube account.
Aside from this, you should also consider platforms like Snapchat, Pinterest and even Tumblr. Due to the fact that neither of these platforms requires you to pay in order to register, there’s really no reason not to be present on all of them.
A failure to update your profile, nonetheless, may appear quite unprofessional, which is why having a person in charge of your social media management, or even outsourcing this function altogether, may be a great idea.
3. Give your company a face
It’s easy to just upload some nice, industry-relevant images to your website’s homepage and hope that it will seem legitimate and professional enough to your audience. On the other hand, it’s much more efficient to give your company a face by using images of your happy and motivated employees and satisfied clients (usually next to testimonials).
This might be a bit difficult for companies that exist only in the virtual environment, yet, even this problem has a remedy. You see, if you’re an Australian online entrepreneur from Victoria and employ at least several people from your area, you might want to consider looking for a serviced office in Melbourne for you and your team.
Aside from the obvious advantage of receiving a productivity boost, you’ll also get an opportunity to take a picture of your team in a traditional business world environment. Needless to say, this is just one of the ways to give your company a face to stand behind.
4. Learn how to become better at outreach
Reaching out to people who you’ve never actually met is a delicate art, regardless of whether you do this on LinkedIn or via an email. Therefore, you need to learn how to do so properly.
Like in the real world, you need to start by introducing yourself. Next, you should immediately state what you want from them/have to offer them, due to the fact that you can’t expect them to have the same amount of patience as if you were to meet in person.
Lastly, you need to make your message visually pleasing, as well as use an email signature with your title and contact information on it. Not knowing how to reach out to people is one of the most reliable indicators of inexperience.
5. Go for old-school marketing
Lastly, you should consider turning towards old-school marketing in order to make a good impression. This is due to the fact that a lot of first-time entrepreneurs tend to be oblivious of the incredible ROI of traditional marketing, which makes them stick to the online methods of business promotion.
Conclusion
Needless to say, no matter how experienced your company looks, this is still not a substitute for actual experience. On the other hand, you shouldn’t feel bad about trying to make your company appear more seasoned than it actually is. It’s all about giving your brand a fighting chance and an opportunity to prove itself.
Author Bio: Keith Coppersmith
