Do You Need to Update Your Website? Posted on April 14, 2015 by Jessica Lunk Your #1 sales rep may not be who you think. In fact, 9 out of 10 people will do online research long before coming into a sales conversation with you, making your website a key tool in your sales and marketing process. Is your website as effective as it can be in helping you to capture the attention of new business? Is it mobile responsive? Can you make quick content updates? Can you capture new leads from your site? If your online presence is just a digital version of your printed marketing material, you’re missing the boat. Static websites with content that never changes are offending to search engines as well as visitors to your site. Just because you’re a small business doesn’t mean that your website has to look amateur. An updated site with clean design is a reassuring sign to your prospects and customers that there’s great energy and activity behind your online calling card. Outsource Web Design When you’re ready to make the move to a new website, you can outsource the work to an agency or web developer. While this route is more of an investment, there are major benefits to your business: You’ll benefit from professional design that is inline with the latest trends. Your site will adhere to the more technical aspects of web design, like site structure, cross-browser compatibility, mobile responsiveness and search engine visibility. When you outsource development, you can also outsource ongoing technical support. So, when a new Google update comes out, or when WordPress releases a new version, or if you were to get hacked, you have a tech team on call who can take the issue off of your plate. Outsourcing web design is the least pain-free way to go. But it’s not the only way… DIY We know that you’re super ambitious because you struck out on your own to start your own business. So maybe you also want complete control over building your website…more power to you! If you’re the do-it-yourself type, you can tackle a new website on your own. Here are two paths you can take: Take a Templated Approach with a Website Builder You can create a website for your business without any coding experience or web design knowledge. Tools like Squarespace, Wix and Weebly let you customize pre-built templates to build your own website design. The benefit of taking a templated, drag & drop approach to your web design is a shorter learning curve. However, you may lose some of the design flexibility you’d get if you outsourced web design or built your site using an open source platform… Build on an Open Source Platform If you’re technically inclined, an open source content management platform like WordPress is a more powerful option for customizing your website design. The drawback to a DIY website through WordPress, however, is that there’s a fairly steep learning curve compared to a tool like Squarespace. WordPress is free to install on your web domain, and has an infinite library of help articles and forums you can address for support. There are a ton of WordPress templates available, both free and paid, so you don’t have to build a site from scratch, but can customize a template to suit your needs. A DIY site is definitely not the way to go for everyone, but it’s a great option if you love a challenge, enjoy piecing together a puzzle, and are an ace at problem solving. Doubts? Maybe you’re hesitant to invest in a new website because your business is built on highly personal relationships. But you can bet that no matter how solid your relationship is with a prospect or customer, they’ll be checking out your website before they decide to do business with you or refer you to a friend. There’s nothing worse than clicking on one of the top sites in the search results only to be directed to a site that looks like it hasn’t been touched in years, or even still has dummy text where there should be relevant copy. The beauty of a clean website design that you can update it with new information on the fly, making you look professional and at the top of your game no matter how small your business. Don’t repel potential business with an outdated site. Take time to revisit and invest in your website and create a better online experience for your prospects and customers.
How to Make your Small Biz Look Big (Without Growing Your Footprint) Posted on April 7, 2015July 25, 2016 by Jessica Lunk You’ve worked for corporate America, and know what big business feels like. You didn’t like it. But that doesn’t mean you don’t want to grow revenue while staying true to your small business roots. While putting more boots on the ground can help your small business win more customers, hiring a bigger sales force increases payroll and requires more management on your part. Today, though, there are innovative ways your small business can live large, attracting the bigger fish with less work – and without growing your small biz footprint. Your Website If your online presence is still a static website that is more like an online brochure, it’s time to update. Building a CMS-based (content management system) website on a platform like WordPress can give you the power to update your website whenever you please. With frequent updates to your website – like a new blog post or timely homepage announcement – you’ll actually look like you’re in business. It’s reassuring to your prospects and customers knowing that there’s activity going on behind the scenes of your online calling card. Even if your business relies on highly personal relationships, you can bet that visiting your website online is one of the main steps prospects will take before they decide to do business with you. A modern, up-to-date website that clearly communicates who you are, what you do, and how you benefit your customers can make you look a lot larger – without adding a single person to your team. Social Media Social Media has been an excellent vehicle to help small businesses get their story across without making huge investments in traditional advertising like print, television and radio. But is your social media presence making you look smaller than you are, or larger than life? Keeping social media manageable and updating your small business profiles every day or two can make you look larger, while neglected profiles can sink your status. The golden rule of social media is to do a few channels very well instead of spreading yourself too thin. If most of your customers are on LinkedIn, but not active on Facebook, cut out your Facebook channel and focus your efforts on sharpening your LinkedIn presence. Do one or two social channels well to project a professional, polished image and to boost engagement with your social fans. CRM If an excel spreadsheet and business card collection are your main contact organization tools, it’s time to upgrade. A simple CRM can make your business look a lot bigger. For starters, you won’t be scrambling to find information. A small business CRM can track and organize your customer and prospects’ activity in real time. You’ll have the information you need at your fingertips to pick up hundreds of conversations right where you left off. You won’t lose your friendly small business vibe, but you will be able to handle more interactions with prospects and customers more effectively. That’s huge. When you’re driving business development and sales for your business, your time is much better spent building on relationships with customers who are ready to buy now than wasting time cold calling prospects. A small business CRM can track notes on a contact record, record email conversations, keep tabs on your contact’s interests, and let you know which prospects you should be in conversation with. A spreadsheet just can’t do that. Email Marketing As a small business owner, you’ve got your hands in sales and marketing, and your business is built on the personal relationships you’ve developed with your customers. With the right email marketing tools, you can continue to communicate in a personal, but scalable way. Instead of blasting the same message to everyone on your list, small business marketing automation tools allow you to reach many prospects and customers at a time with an individual message just for them. We like to think of it as personalized mail. Sending the right content to the right person at the right time makes them feel like you know them. It also lets you write emails that say exactly what you would say to a prospect or customer over lunch. But instead of sending hundreds of individual emails, small business marketing automation takes the administrative stuff off your plate,e giving you the freedom to get away from your machine. You don’t need lots of employees to help your business run smoothly. Invest in a few smart small business tools to build up your brand and pump up your profits.