Word of Mouth on Steroids, an Opportunity

Tomorrow morning one of our Bookbuzz clients, Graham Fagan of BT, will review “Chief Customer Officer 2.0: How to Build Your Customer-Driven Growth Engine” by Jeanne Bliss on Newstalk.

This is what we made of the book

The landscape of customer service has fundamentally shifted. 80% of all buying decisions are now researched online, with customer reviews as the main source. It is truly word of mouth on steroids.

Other authors

One of our favourite authors, Brian Solis has written about this extensively in “WTF” and “The end of business as usual” .  So has Guy Vaynerchuk in “The thank you economy”.

Social customer service

Our favourite book on CRM is “Social Customer Service”

Jeanne Bliss

And now there is “Chief Customer Service 2.0” by Jeanne Bliss. Jeanne Bliss is the Founder and President of CustomerBliss, and the Co-Founder of The Customer Experience Professionals Association.

She is one of the foremost experts on customer-centric leadership and the role of the Chief Customer Officer. A consultant and thought leader, Jeanne Bliss guides C-Suite and Chief Customer Officer clients around the world toward earning the right to business growth and prosperity, by improving customers’ lives.

Jeanne Bliss pioneered the role of the Chief Customer Officer, holding the first ever CCO role at Lands’ End, Microsoft, Coldwell Banker and Allstate Corporations.

She takes a corporate perspective to the issue of particular large corporations becoming truly customer centric, instead of just playing lip service.

Five core competencies

She has identified 5 core competencies

  1. Treat customers as the most precious asset
  2. Focus on providing an experience that is most desirable to the customer
  3. Listen to customers to learn how to improve that experience
  4. Make customer experience development as important as product development
  5. Sustain proactive customer leadership at all levels and in all areas

When these five competencies are embedded into the organisation with leadership behaviour, they are so clear that they become the work of the organisation.

Stating the obvious

In her view a Chief Customer Officer (CCO) is successful when he or she can simplify how the organisation works together, to achieve customer-driven growth, engage the leadership team, and connect the work to a return on investment, grounded in caring about customers. To me that sounds like stating the obvious

Not obvious for the big boys

However in large corporations it is not that obvious and she gives the full road map to what she calls a customer driven growth engine where you do achieve the word of mouth on steroids.

Large companies are defined by project plan movement rather than customer life improvement. CEOs and boards want to be customer focused, but without an explicit connection to growth. Many consider the work to be:

  • A leap of faith
  • Expensive.
  • Deterrents to the “real” work.

Understanding the real numbers

They do not know how many new customers did you bring in this quarter, by volume and value (power of your acquisition engine); how many customers were lost this quarter, by volume and value (power of the experience and value perceived); how many increased their purchases; and how many reduced their level of engagement with you?

The key here is to express these outcomes in whole numbers, not retention rates, so the full impact is understood—these numbers represent the lives of customers joining or leaving your company.

Why?

They do not know  “WHY?”  Why did customers stay or leave, buy more or less, or actively use your productsRead more at location 452

The customer journey

To be customer centric you nee to understand the entire customer journey, Which is why you need a customer journey framework that will provide a disciplined one-company diagnosis into the reasons behind customer asset growth or loss.

The story of the client

You need to be able tell the story of your customers’ experience based on feedback volunteered from customers as they interact with you, survey and social feedback, ethnography, and other sources of gathered input are assembled into one complete picture, presenting customer perception and value, stage by stage. Using as many sources you can, including social media. Creating a customer’s listening path, mapping all the touch points. Ultimately the job of a CCO is to be the company storyteller of your customers’ live. And the trick is to make it human.

Implementation

And belief it or not, it is very difficult to get that implemented. Silos, wrong metrics, wrong emphasis, wrong culture, wrong leadership.

Silos is a big thing

For example, billing is a challenging customer experience not just because of what the billing department does. Communications, sales, marketing, operations, IT, and billing all play a role in what the customer ultimately experiences. Customers experience a company across the operation, not down the silos.

Did we earn the right to customer growth?

What would change in your company if every executive meeting started with “Did we earn the right to customer growth?”  Embracing customers as assets shifts the attitude of leaders and ultimately the organisation, because the purpose is to earn the right to growth by improving the lives of customers. When you improve their lives, the high scores will follow.

It starts with the metrics (and assets)

  • Customer Asset Metric 1: New Customers—Volume and Value
  • Customer Asset Metric 2: Lost Customers—Volume and Value and Reasons WhyAdd a note
  • Customer Asset Metric 3: Do the Math—Net Growth or Loss of Your Customer
  • Customer Asset Metric 4: A Simple Set of Customer Behaviours Indicating Growth or Loss of Relationship

Customer asset metrics are needed to engage executive leadership in a customer-centric transformation. They become engaged in the conversation because of the simplicity of the metrics and their connection to earning the right to growth.

The map

Leaders who use the journey map to diagnose the experience and its impact on the growth or shrinkage of the customer asset are most successful. Ultimately your customer journey map becomes your business decision blueprint. And again stating the obvious, for this work to be successful, it must connect to leadership language and accountability and communication. Clarity of purpose is helpful too (duh!).

For example, billing is a challenging customer experience not just because of what the billing department does. Communications, sales, marketing, operations, IT, and billing all play a role in what the customer ultimately experiences. Customers experience a company across the operation, not down the silos.

And here is the kicker

It is about social media and experience reliability. You create  customer growth when you deliver a reliable experience and you will start earning the right to your customers’ story through word of mouth. There is a 300 percent revenue gain to be had by focusing on reliability versus the wow moments.

The moment of clarity

Chief Customer Officer 2.0 reminds me of “The moment of clarity”. Give me that book any time over this one. In my view the book is full of repetition (repeating the 5 principles over and over again), stating the obvious. Hated it.

Other reviews

I am obviously wrong as the book has gotten fantastic reviews. I guess, that if you are inside these large organisations, a road map like Jeanne Bliss gives in this book, is very useful. As an entrepreneur this screams opportunity, as I am presuming that you are much closer to your customers, that you do use the right metrics, have the map and that your culture is truly customer centric. If not, you need to read this book.

PS 

Unless Graham comes up with some compelling arguments, this is not a book we will be featuring at our Bookbuzz MBA in day. The other books mentioned will be. You can still book your place.

The post Word of Mouth on Steroids, an Opportunity appeared first on Small Business Can.

This post was originally published here - http://www.smallbusinesscan.com/word-mouth-steroids-opportunity/ on
thinkbusiness

How to Create an Inventive Marketing Strategy on a Budget

We’ve all been faced with a situation in life when we haven’t necessarily got the funds to simply buy what we want or need. Being canny with a budget and creative in our approach is an important part of life. Having these skills in the business world is an essential requirement.

When it comes to marketing it can be daunting to deliver a strategy on a modest budget. Traditionally making a big noise required the budget to back it up. Large print ads, TV commercials, celebrity endorsements, radio jingles, billboards – all tools in the armoury of marketing departments and all relatively expensive.

Yet the modern world – and the technology that the world is obsessed with – plays into the hands of those looking to be canny and creative. There are essentially three things you must do to create an inventive strategy when on a budget: plan properly, embrace new technology, and share your wisdom.

Plan

If money is tight then you need to get it right. You need to be specific and you need to plan everything properly. How much money do you have exactly? What does your strategy have to achieve? Who does it need to reach? Ask yourself important questions and ask important questions of your target market so that you are clear before you begin.

Often by focusing solely on the essential goals you can deliver a focussed campaign that is successful. By setting out a good, well-researched plan you can track performance and monitor costs at all stages.

You also need to plan in advance. Rushed, last minute campaigns are likely to attract greater cost.

Digital can disrupt

One of the very best things about the technological advancements of recent years when it comes to marketing is that they have greatly reduced the cost of getting your message across.

Expensive print runs for big batches of flyers can be replaced, for example, by sending out a large batch of SMS messages. It’s quicker too. If sending too many SMS sounds like it’s going to be painful for your thumbs don’t worry. Technology exists to send hundreds or thousands of messages in seconds. People much prefer a text, too, to a leaflet pushed through their door.

Videos no longer need to be made for television or cinema screens – YouTube and social media have reduced the barriers to getting these to your customers.

You should harness social media well. This is your chance to show a human face for your brand and create content that can be shared by your customers who, in this scenario, act as ambassadors for you. It’s powerful, effective and does not come with a big cost.

In general you should think about how digital technology can deliver some of the traditional marketing methods at a fraction of the cost. Stage a virtual trade show, for example, use eye-catching poster images on Facebook instead of billboards and pay for web banners instead of print ads.

Share wisdom

Don’t confine yourself to the short term. One way to boost your marketing efforts is through content. Set yourself up as a thought leader through sound, well-written blog posts on your own website and offer your services as a guest writer for good, relevant industry websites.

In the long-term being a thought leader will establish your brand as something to be respected and will help you to have greater authority when marketing new products, services and practices. If you have a flair for writing and interesting thoughts to share, this can be a lucrative long-term way of extending your marketing efforts in a cost-effective way.

Plan properly, embrace digital and use content smartly and you’ll deliver a winning creative strategy at a cut price.

The post How to Create an Inventive Marketing Strategy on a Budget appeared first on Small Business Can.

5 Innovative Social Media Tips to Grow Your E-Commerce Business

A report by Hubspot shows 365% growth of social media use in the past 7 years. Not only this is an astonishing figure, but also shows the vast number of customers that online businesses can attract. In another report, it showed that more than 70% people on social media prefer to make purchases online. This shows how the world is transitioning from a physical platform (real stores) to a digital platform for shopping and this is mainly due to the increased online presence on social media. But as innovative the social media platform is, business owners must also think of innovative ideas to attract more and more buyers and eventually turn their businesses into brands. Here are a few tips to attract the customer’s attention on social media and help grow your e-commerce business.

1. Grow Your E-Commerce Business with User Generated Content

The best way to engage your customers or clients is by encouraging user generated content. It provides a platform to your customers to showcase their creativity but also helps you promote your brand. So ensure that your e commerce platforms are equipped with social media tools that promote customer engagement. You can also look for the best e commerce platforms on websites like FinestShops and others. Guest post by select customers, photography contests and any campaigns that feature your customers not only increases their interest but will also ensure their loyalty. Maintaining goodwill is one of the most prime aspects of a business and promoting the customers is a great way of establishing yourself as a brand.

2. Inspirational Quotes

Promoting your products through an inspirational quote can be really effective if served in the right manner. In a recent study it was found that inspirational quotes by famous personalities get a 19% boost in shares on various social media platforms like twitter and Facebook. Any quote that is funny, motivational or educational is increasingly shared by social media users creating a great area for marketing. One of the great examples of this is the Never Settle Campaign by clothing brand Ugmonk that was coupled with an inspirational Quote from Steve Jobs. This not only allowed people to share their product on social media but also worked on an inspirational level rather than a promotional one.

3. Video Campaign about Upcoming Products

We all know that watching a video is more engaging than reading and hence it is also important to include a video campaign to promote your business. We are pretty familiar with video ads through the popular modes of entertainment like radio and television. As the world has moved on to the digital platform through the internet, the need for audio visual content still remains. A sneak preview video of your upcoming products not only creates more curiosity in the customers but also keeps them engaged about the product launch. Nevertheless, this should be served in an innovative manner and should not appear as a direct advertisement.

4. A Little Self Promotion Doesn’t Hurt

While the internet world hates people who brag, adding a bit of humor and cheekiness can work wonders. Showing some personality while making a self promoting statement helps the customers identify your business as an entity and not just a company. Try to have fun when trying to tell people why your brand is the best, instead of taking a more direct or serious approach.

5. Using Trending Content to Your Advantage

Using the current events to your advantage might be considered as a cheap trick for most businesses. But when done ethically, an ad campaign bundled with trending content can work wonders for your online business. Coupling your products with a trending hashtag on twitter can significantly improve your viewership. It not only promotes your products but also helps you engage in different conversations that were started by other brands or celebrities.

Not only social media emerged as a boon to the people across the world but has also opened several opportunities of business and created a whole new market. Hence, the owners of the online business must always think ‘outside the box’ to attract and engage more and more customers. The above tips can be implemented for most business that operate online and can certainly attract more customers and media attention.

The post 5 Innovative Social Media Tips to Grow Your E-Commerce Business appeared first on Small Business Can.

3 Ways To Increase Your Marketing Reach

Many business owners associate additional costs with increasing their brand’s marketing reach. But with the right tools and know-how, a business can increase the impact of their marketing efforts with minimal to no cost. Here are 3 ways a business can extend their marketing reach to targeted audiences across the globe. Let’s look at some ways you can expand and increase your marketing reach.

Categorize Your Audience & Their Respective Behaviors

It can be almost impossible for a business to convey the right message to the right people at the right time. If not entirely impossible, the process tends to be time-consuming and labor-intensive. Nonetheless, it should be your marketing goal. You’ve probably already launched a few marketing strategies, from organic searches to Pay-Per-Click, on search engines or social networking sites. These are all tested and proven strategies in the realm of marketing. But to generate good returns on investment, you cannot execute such strategies so blindly and hastily.

A solid grasp of the fundamentals of your targeted audience is necessary. Age, gender, ethnic background, and any other demographic information you can recover from your audience will play an important part in keeping your marketing approach fresh and relevant. Having a more thorough insight of their activity and behavior also allows you to make more reliable forecasts for your business as well as a more effective follow-through.

Determine The Right Channels

Different marketing channels are accessible for a business. But this doesn’t mean you should dive into every possible channel in the hopes of maximizing reach to your target audience. If you do participate in every available marketing channel, you end up with more monthly costs and more pipelines to manage. Instead of being a jack-of-all-trades, research and focus on 2 or 3 marketing channels that suit your type of business.

Social media is perhaps one of the best marketing strategies to date and is a vital component for every business who wants to compete online. However, not all social media platforms are cut out for your particular business type, model, and target audience. Do the necessary work and research to identify the right platforms to best reach your market. Have a strategic approach when dispensing content on these platforms instead of hastily spamming articles and blog posts. Doing so may affect your brand’s integrity and professionalism.

Work On Your Content

In an attempt to reach the most customers quicker than their competitors, many businesses neglect content quality thus failing to convey the right message to their consumers. Quality marketing content may be trickier or more expensive to acquire, but over time you’ll be able to recover upfront expenses through reduced customer acquisition cost and higher customer retention rate.

So how do you beautify your marketing content? One way is to incorporate subtitling into your marketing videos. Customers have grown more accustomed to subtitling options due to recent advances in entertainment, such as Netflix. Prolonged exposure to films and TV shows that have subtitles in them have trained consumers subconsciously to simply read what the characters on their screen are saying rather than pay close attention. Having subtitles encourages web viewers to keep the video running since they can understand it better.

There are several good reasons why subtitles are the strongest add-on for video marketing. One reason is that having subtitles make your video more visible to web viewers. YouTube and Vimeo captions are itemized by Google, Yahoo, and other search engines. Furthermore, subtitled videos in a native language have a higher chance of getting shared between friends and family members.

If you have sufficient marketing budget, you can implement both voice-over and subtitled video formats to reach a broader audience. Giving users the flexibility to choose how they view your content gives them a more personal experience and makes it more accessible to web users around the world.

The post 3 Ways To Increase Your Marketing Reach appeared first on Small Business Can.

4 reasons to enter the Business Achievers Awards (or any other)

Why do we in Smallbusinesscan think you should apply for the Business Achievers Awards (BAA)? Or any award for that matter. We think it could be a big deal for you and your business.

You still have time to apply and receive the many benefits! You have until Friday 25 September

1. It will help you raise money

Winning a category in BAA or other prestigious competitions is a very strong validation for the winners when it comes to grants or finance applications. All the state agencies, bankers, investors and other money men are part of the eco system of these competitions and they keep an eye on what’s going on. You get a chance to impress them with your application and meet them at lots of different events.

2. It will help you win customers

The BAA and other competitions are a great opportunity to get free publicity. Can you imagine the opportunities if you win a region or a category? Just think of the collateral for your website alone and the validation it gives customers and partners. We know of companies that have won BIG  contracts on the back of being part of the business achievers.

3. It will help you strategise

It’s taking about 25 minutes to fill in the online form. That form will help you think about your business and its strategy. It’s designed to help you elucidate your business model. Forget about the judges, it will help give you a clear sense of where your business is and where it’s going.

4. It will help energize the company and all its stakeholders

The Business Achievers, as far as we can see, is one of the few prestigious all island competitions that seems to be embracing all SMEs; that’s acknowledging and acclaiming SME achievement. It is definitely the oldest all Ireland business competition. As business owners we all deserve a little bit of time in the sun, as do the families that support us and the colleagues that are in the trenches with us.

The form will take 20-30 minutes max. It’s worth the time spent!

Submissions are closing on Friday, September 25th, so find that 25 minutes and go here and express what your business is all about.

Need Help?

If you want feedback before you send your submission, book a chat here.

The post 4 reasons to enter the Business Achievers Awards (or any other) appeared first on Small Business Can.

Marketing Tips and Techniques for Entrepreneurs

Marketing can be seen as an art form in many cases and you need to be aware of the various techniques that will showcase your business ideas in the best light. If you find that you are struggling to get your business off the ground, it could be due to the possibility that you are missing out on something that you can easily incorporate into your marketing strategy. Read on for some key marketing tips for your business…

Get Visual

We are perceptive and visual people, which is why we are always drawn to movies and fantastic works of art. If you want to get your company noticed, you have to start using business stationary and advertising to sell your company. A great option is to use brochure printing from Helloprint to reach a bigger customer base further afield. Other options to use include business cards, flyers, banners or leaflets in order to get your brand out there and start making valuable connections with potential customers.

Showcase Benefits

Instead of focusing solely on the different features that your company has to offer, showcase the benefits that choosing your brand can have on potential customers. Lean towards these benefits whenever you are trying to sell to a new customer and they will begin to realise that your business can provide solutions to their problems.

Marketing Strategy

You need an innovative and productive marketing strategy to lift your business off the ground and see it blossom. Make an app for your company and be available via mobile and social media. According to www.onboardly.com it is important that you test your marketing ideas on small batches that last a period of two weeks. This is so that you can measure the ‘successes and failures of these two-week experiments you will have a better idea of what works and what doesn’t’.

Listen

You need to learn to listen to not only your customers, but other successful business leaders who will be able to give you valuable advice. Ask questions and learn as much as you can about the relevant market in which your business occupies. Research other companies that are similar to yours and discover what has worked for them in the past and what didn’t.
Pay attention to the trending subjects online if you plan to use content marketing in your strategy and seek those who are in need of your company in order to attract new clients/customers.

Trustworthy Team

A successful business always has a talented team of people working behind the scenes to ensure that the business runs smoothly. You need to weigh your strengths and weaknesses up and then hire people who will be able to strengthen those weaknesses. According to Forbes, hiring the right talent is essential to your business’ success. Don’t rush into the decision. As an entrepreneur it may be difficult to come by the finances to be able to hire a talented team in the first place which is why it is important to take on the right people, who are passionate about the business and who are able to advance and enhance it.

The post Marketing Tips and Techniques for Entrepreneurs appeared first on Small Business Can.

A helping hand when entering business awards

If you believe that you or your clients deserve to win business awards, such as the coveted Ulster Bank Business Achievers Awards, but do not have the time or expertise to compose powerful award submissions yourself, then there’s a consultancy that can help. Boost Marketing are the world’s first dedicated award entry consultancy, and helping businesses enter awards successfully is what they do for a living – day in, day out.

The firm can help you evaluate the impact of your initiatives and strategies, write your submissions and even help you prepare for judges visits and second stage presentations.

To date, Boost have written over 1,500 award submissions, with 75% making it to the finals and 40% going on to win.

Since launching in 2007, Boost have become market leaders in their field, with operations in the UK, Ireland, USA, France and New Zealand.

The Boost Marketing team

The Boost Marketing team

As well as helping clients write their submissions, Boost have also developed the world’s largest database of over 2,500 global award schemes, ensuring clients never miss a suitable award. You can view this database for free via their website.

What’s more, they provide a free ‘Award Alerts‘ service, whereby they will email you each month with a list of awards that are coming up, so that you never miss an upcoming deadline. You can sign up easily for free via their website.

“Boost work incredibly hard to understand every facet of our business. This investment has paid real dividends. Our shortlist rate and our win rate have sky-rocketed with their help.”
Julie Urquhart, PR Manager Hastings Direct

Contact Boost today to see how they can help you win awards:

 

The post A helping hand when entering business awards appeared first on Small Business Can.

A Guide to Improve Online Customer Experience with Upselling and Cross-Selling Strategy

For aspirants in eCommerce industry who wish to make it big, merely cataloguing products and focusing on intelligent navigation will not suffice. It’s time to think out of the box. And this comes through the process of upsell and cross-sell strategy. Most of the digital businesses often do not care of this selling technique and lose revenue in the long run.

Why Upselling and Cross-selling?

The process is an art of introducing customers to complementary products that gets instant acceptance. According to Forrester research analyst, upsells and cross-sells strategy is responsible for an average of 10-30% of eCommerce revenue.  Every time a customer buys something, and if you fail to offer an upsell and cross-sell, you are definitely missing a great opportunity to increase your sale.

Surveys have revealed that both these strategies are useful in increasing revenues manifold. Also, the tool helps customers choose the high quality products when shopping online.

Here’s how it goes…

Let’s say a customer is looking at purchasing a camera

Upselling strategy: After selecting a camera, if customer is immediately presented with the option of buying a DSLR camera, the merchant is trying to persuade the customer to switch his purchasing decision to a more expensive product. Upselling is getting the customer to spend more money on the same type of product he initially intended to buy.

Cross-selling: Ones when the DSLR camera is purchased, if the customer is presented with options like a camera bag, additional lenses and memory card, it complements their existing purchase. When customers are offered additional products to support and complement the product that he has already decided to buy, the technique is called cross-selling. The special packages supporting the main item allow your customers to receive that extra at a special price. The strategy aims at getting a customer buy more products in addition to the original product he intended to buy from you.

In case of an online business, upselling and cross-selling includes showing the related and relevant products on order or product page.

The Core Difference

Upselling is about understanding the features of your more expensive products and how those features can be of great value and benefit to the customers. While cross-selling involves how the special packages supporting the main products allow your customers to acquire that extra they require at a special price.

Can You Upsell and Cross-sell everything?

Simply focusing on selling more and increasing the customer’s cart size isn’t always the right strategy. You need to understand what exactly your customers want. Consider what actually makes sense to show your customers and at which stage in the purchasing lifecycle.

Consider the three primary factors during Upsell and Cross-sell Method-

Relevance of the add-ons

Showing irrelevant additional products will unnecessarily confuse your customers. Make a list of your products and accessorize them with the compatible ones. Given a situation, customers will always need something besides the product he’s currently buying.

The greater familiarity your customers have with the additional item, the more likely they’re to buy.

Value for money

While you upsell and cross sell your products, do not increase the overall product order by more than 25 percent. Customer should feel the worth of every penny they spend.

Right time to approach

You don’t want to seem pushy with your products and on the contrary, you also don’t want to miss the window of opportunity. It is recommended to create triggered-based rules to showcase the right message at the right time.

Don’t exaggerate

Ones you know what to upsell and cross sell your customers, be tactful about it. Showing your customers heaps of unnecessary products, page after page will only confuse your customer’s acuity about your brand. This ultimately affects the overall conversion rates.

Are You Considering Upselling or Cross-selling?

Most of the retailers often remain confused as what to select – upselling or cross-selling. Research and analysis has revealed that consumers are more attracted to the upselling process than the cross-selling. It has been observed that they pay more attention to the pages that upsell the products. Studies have also revealed that 4% of the total online sales are usually driven by upselling strategy, whereas cross selling drives only 0.2%.

However, it has been noticed that cross sell is more effective when the products are presented on the checkout pages. It should not be ignored completely, but suggestions of the add-ons should be made more intelligently based on what the customers are buying, post purchase history and the amount they spend.

Measure your Performance

Analytic tools help in assessing the purchases that has already taken place and the trends associated with it. If a mother is buying diapers for her baby, she might buy other products related to infant care. This trend needs to be analyzed so that next time a mother clicks on a diaper in an online catalogue, she must get a pop-up of other products related to her baby care. These related products are quite useful for prospective customers.

Considering all these factors, plan your upsell and cross sell strategy to improve conversion rates as they’re effective drivers of additional revenue for your business.

The post A Guide to Improve Online Customer Experience with Upselling and Cross-Selling Strategy appeared first on Small Business Can.

How To Start A Successful Online Business

Whether you’re looking to get away from the 9-5 grind or earn a part-time income to supplement your salary, starting an online business can be extremely rewarding. Unlike brick-and-mortar businesses that require heavy capital investments upfront, business ideas such as a new blog concept or offering freelance services are relatively cheap and easy to build. Here are 5 essential steps to Start A Successful Online Business.

1. Build A Blog or Website

It isn’t the 90s or early 2000s where a blog was optional. If you want to establish credibility for any business, you have to build a blog. And fortunately for non-technical business owners, a blog no longer requires HTML, CSS, PHP, or an in-depth knowledge of any coding language.

Enter WordPress – the most popular blogging software in the world. In fact, your very own Small Business Can is built on it and see how professional it looks! There are dozens of great tutorials and guides that can teach you how to start a blog online.

2. Content Marketing

Content marketing refers to the concept of creating valuable, interesting content for your visitors as a means of indirectly marketing your products or services. Content marketing serves multiple purposes, but the following are the biggest benefits:

  • Developing trust. Publishing quality content allows you to demonstrate your expertise and credibility without being arrogant or making the hard-sell. By addressing their concerns through “how-to” guides, readers and potential customers begin to trust your industry knowledge and insights.
  • Build exposure. It’s hard to get people to link to or visit your website if all you are trying to do is sell them something. Why should other bloggers send their hard-earned traffic to your blog so you can make money? If they do, it’s called advertising and they will charge you. However, if you have unique content that might prove valuable to their readers, it is in their best interest, as an expert in their industry, to be aware of helpful publications.
  • SEO benefits. If you don’t already know, aside from cold-hard cash, links are the biggest online currency because search engines like Google use them as editorial votes to rank web pages. As you build your website’s credibility through links, you eventually start to earn organic search engine traffic from relevant keywords. For example, if you write a very high quality blog post on “How To Invest For Retirement”, you may end up ranking for the term “Investing For Retirement”, which is searched 720 times per month world-wide in on Google. As your rankings improve, a majority of those visitors may end up visiting your site.

3. Leverage Social Media

Social media is a great equalizer in the sense that anyone can become an overnight “celebrity” with the right Tweet, Share, or Pin. Due to the growing popular and user levels on social platforms, this free traffic source is difficult to ignore. However, bloggers and business owners must know where to find their target demographic.

For instance, LinkedIn might be best if your business targets professionals and a B2B audience. Instagram and Pinterest are great for image-friendly blogs, especially catering to women. Facebook is usually best for B2C niches and Twitter is ideal for news and current events.

Knowing where to invest your energy and resource is critical to reaching your best potential customers.

4. Be Consistent and Patient

Forget the Dot Com millionaires who enjoyed overnight success – those days are long gone. Making money online is just as competitive, if not more competitive, then any other industry given that the barriers-to-entry are exceptionally low. Nonetheless, there is still room for new success stories and bloggers looking to build an empire.

You just need to stay consistent and expect your online business to be a long-term investment of your time and energy. If you are doing something special and unique, you will eventually be noticed. Like anything else in life, the things worth doing take time to develop into something great.

5. Be Creative and Take Risks

When people think of innovation, they think of big technologies companies coming up with revolutionary ideas and concepts. But as a small business owner online, you have an opportunity to do something creative as well. Analyzing your competitors and copying their content or offerings will not get you noticed.

Instead, you can change an industry model to challenge established business practices, take a controversial, yet enlightened stance on a public issue, provide the absolute best quality services and products in an industry, etc.

Whatever you end up doing, always strive to be proud of what you’re building. The passion, determination, and goodwill will become apparent to your loyal readers and customers.

The post How To Start A Successful Online Business appeared first on Small Business Can.