Hi Reader,

In today's digital world, having a strong online presence is non-negotiable.

Last week we discussed the importance of BUILDING a Strong Brand Identity, today we will be building upon that work to keep you on tracks with ACHIEVING GROWTH!

Less than 5 years ago, building an online presence was not as difficult as it is today! Crafting the RIGHT online presence can drive awareness and sales into your business... however creating an incomplete, broken, or limited online presence can cost lots of money, time, and yield little to no results

Today's Tip: Optimize Your Website and Social Media

Ensure your website is user-friendly, mobile-optimized, and reflects your brand. Engage with your audience on social media platforms relevant to your business. Share valuable content, interact with followers, and use analytics to refine your strategy, all sounds simple and easy... but at times business owners find themselves frustrated and letdown

Information Overload!

The internet is FULL of "Dos and Don'ts" when it comes to the right digital presence. Knowing what is best for your business is ultimately up to you, my job is to help you decipher all of the options.

To Incur the Costs of a Website or Not

There is an increased debate over the VALUE of websites over landing pages and other social avenues. Here is what our research has found.

1. Websites - Within some industries having a well built and information driven website is still "industry standard". The best rule of thumb for you to consider is:
   • The COMPLEXITY of your business and offers - If you offer multiple levels of offers or services, having a website could be extremely valuable with keeping potential customers and clients updated and engaged.
   • The TIME you have to maintain your website - Often times I find that websites are one of the first essential steps that new business owners create. However, as business builds, new social avenues are introduced, or we become busy... our websites quickly become outdated and obsolete.
   • A CLEAR UNDERSTANDING you have of your targeted audience - Your audience will dictate the conversion rate of your website. IF you are unable to fully utilize the right tracking and automations necessary to evaluate the effectiveness, then realizing the VALUE of your website is serving its purpose may be difficult.
2. Landing Pages - The latest trend has become landing pages to drive traffic into your business. Here are some things to consider if you are deciding to go in this direction.
   • Product/ Service Driven Focus - Utilizing Landing pages are great if you want to promote one or two signature items or offers.
   • A CLEAR domain name - Landing pages with short and concise domain name that will perfectly describe your offer will yield the BEST RESULTS. What most will not tell you is you must consistently generate NEW DOMAIN variations to capture new traffic.
   • FORMS are Essential - The misleading idea that landing pages are less expensive than going with a full-service website provider often leads unaware owners into frustrating results. To build the most effective landing page you MUST also include a complete suite of capture forms, sales systems, and a scalable CRM system. Without these addons you will not be able to capitalize on the traffic your landing page is receiving.
3. eCommerce Sites - Stand alone eCommerce sites such as Shopify, Etsy, and more tend to promote that the use of their platforms is all that an entrepreneur needs to make substantial money. Although you can build customers and sell items, just the platform alone in today's times will not be enough.
4. Social Media Sites - Marketing your business via social media can build awareness. However, you must also consider the original purpose of social sites. When these sites were designed it was just to keep families and friends connected. All of the platforms were designed to upload memories, and updates of our "life events." It wasn't until the pandemic that we began to see the shift into a space for businesses to advertise and promote their products and services. Things to be aware of:
   • Marketing on social sites is becoming less effective - Due to the saturation of flyers, advertisements, and promotions, consumers are becoming overwhelmed with "too much selling"
   • Predatory-like Promises - Where there is opportunity there will ALWAYS be OPPORTUNISTS! Our social feeds are now being over-inundated with false promises and fake offers. For the REAL BUSINESS OWNER, the question is becoming "how do you stand out without looking like these false promises!"
   • Limited Security - No matter how much you try, the more attention that your social profile receives the more susceptible you become to hacks, cyber attacks, and page cloning.

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The story of the "Online Entrepreneur"

Sasha, started her clothing business in 2016. Business was steady through her Shopify site, however when the pandemic hit, unlike other businesses ... hers FLOURISHED! The demand for her unique clothing line and accessories increased 500%! Things were so good, she had enough revenue to acquire a warehouse to "house" her operations including her employees. For almost 2 years her and her team spend majority of their lives together, remaining focused, healthy, and profitable. Life was better than she ever could have predicted. You see Sasha, like other eCommerce startups benefited from the fact that everyone in the world were doing business online.

"The SHIFT!"

Sasha's team became comfortable with building their brand via social media. She had a strong loyalty-based customer base. It was simple and easy until around a year ago. When the world opened up again and people went back to getting out into the world, orders slowed a little but they still saw strong sales from her brand loyal customers. Beginning around 3rd quarter of last year, her accounting team reported their first loss in revenue in over 3 years. Even though sales were still coming, Sasha knew that she would have to do something different to ensure that she didn't lose her company.

Now her customers were out and about shopping in person. As a completely online store she had to do some serious re-evaluation of her business model. Through a comprehensive market study they identifies several markets to build brick-n-mortar storefronts. She and her team had to shift into what and where her customers needed in order to continue to grow. She had to do things that never before were necessary. Since the pandemic her competition increased tremendously. Every where she looked there were new online clothing brands launching daily. They had to build multiple access points to build brand awareness while trying to stand out from the oversaturation of her market.

5 Steps She Took To Stand Out​​

1. Hired A Marketing Company - She recognized that she and her internal team was "too close" to the brand to build an effective marketing program. An outside marketing company was able to approach their new marketing plan with fresh unbiased eyes.
2. A Hybrid Approach - Building a hybrid systematic approach to connecting with consumers worked best for ensuring her brand stood out against her competitors. She shifted from her Shopify site into a full customizable website system. This allowed her to manage all of her communications, blogs, updates, and new launches under one platform while still maintaining a strong avenue for online sales.
3. More Time Engaging in Person - Where she never had to worry about in-person events before, Sasha found it most effective for her to build VALUE within her brand by speaking on stages and at events. Careful to not sell items, she build customers by emphasizing the QUALITY of her clothing, the ETHICAL integrity of her brand, and allowing others to get to know her and HER STORY!
4. Reducing Social Profiles - Despite popular ideals, Sasha realized that she was losing traffic by having TOO MANY social accounts. It was more cost effective to find the one social site that her ideal client frequented and pour all of her efforts into that one site.
5. OPTIMILZATION - Through a thorough evaluation and testing of her sites, she realized that a lot of her social presence was built independently and did not convey a streamlined story of her brand. She could identify the posts and sites that were built out of "desperation" and those that were created out of consistency.

Having an optimized social presence is essential within today's market, however ENSURING that any online presence you have consistently represents YOUR VISION, VALUE, and BRAND STORY is KEY to converting traffic into buyers!

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Next, we’ll explore how to create a compelling online presence.

Until next time remember

"Finding the RIGHT Online Presence for your brand will take time and consistent analysis. Remain connected with us to stay on top of new systems and trends that can minimize your frustrations!"

Always Honored,

Dr. Michelle

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