The greatest advantage of living in the age of technology is the fact that one does not rely on the physical presence of objects to actualize a certain task. He or she can simply get jobs done virtually. Let me explain how the world has rigorously progressed over the past decade. Let me begin with a simple question: how would you market your product if you were running a business in 2000? The answer involves your physical effort of traveling across countries or cities for promotional activities of your products/services. No matter which department you had to handle, there was always involvement of physical effort either for making links and connections or to reach out to the potential customers.
Physically setting up an outlet for the audience to witness your service was mandatory lest no one would learn about your services. Nothing is more painful than realizing the cost of all the activities on top of the investment one has to do on the services. Not only was it incredibly hard for the potential businesspersons to think of starting a business, but the reality of it all also looked nothing more than a dream. It was a complete job. In comparison to older times, things have gotten really simple and easy. The virtual presence has become extremely convenient not merely for the producers but also for the consumers. Both the sides have been given the virtual platform via social media forums to make and run their market. The best part is, it is absolutely free. Neither the business owners spend a penny, nor the audience. All it requires is a reliable internet connection, let’s say one of the Spectrum bundle packages, and the knowledge to know how to use it. You will definitely find plenty of opportunities to advertise your product in the most unique and smart ways through the internet. Let us help you see the steps you have to follow in order to initiate an entire business plan with the help of social media or other mediums of online presence through forums.
Step 1: Brainstorm
First things first – decide on the product line you want to sell. Once you have figured that out, the next step is learning about the business type that suits your product best. What we mean is that knowing the “right means” to market your product is the key to success. For example, if you are selling cars, Instagram or Pinterest may not be the right place to market this business. Facebook could be your pick, or YouTube, for that matter, as you can add videos of the cars racing in the desert, smoke clouding up and the effects or filters to make it more photogenic. Although you can run these videos on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, yet you need to decide which medium is the most appropriate of all the forums that could bring out the value of your business. Let’s say you choose YouTube, the biggest benefit of choosing this medium of advertising is the fact that it gives you the opportunity to make a detailed video of your product. You can even try vlogging. The only point being made here is that you need to know the expertise of a respective social media forum. With that specific information, you will know which forum to use and for what purposes. Online platforms give you the opportunity to use useful and extremely convenient tools like email, web-conference or online training sessions. You can even lead collaborative project management programs to set up or lead a team without having to physically be present at the platform.
Step 2: Setting up your own Website
Being present on social media is not the only strategy that one should be following. What makes your business seem more professional is when your audience lands on your website. Now the question is, how would this website help convert your audience into your customers? Here is how: if the people are fascinated alongside being convinced that what you do is real and has been experienced by many, you will notice their level of interest increasing as they scroll through your website – page-by-page. You can tell where the interest level of the traffic drops by looking into the analytics of a specific page of your website. Wherever you detect the fluctuation, is the spot you need to work on. Understanding the problem is extremely important because that is when you will realize the solution to it.
Step 3: Licensing and Permits
You cannot just sit and think of an idea and believe it will run itself. You have to go through several levels of licensing to operate your business. You can assume that virtual businesses would not need licensing but that is not true. You have to check through your local government business office to learn about the steps of licensing a virtual business. For example, you should know that selling tangible goods require you to have a sales tax permit so that you charge sales tax to buyers of your services from your own state.
Step 4: Put up Online Stores
Your payment methodology should be transparent while being convenient for your customers. What we mean is, if your business is small and you are assuming you can sell off your products by giving out your bank details to every customer for payments then you are going the unprofessional way. The customer who lands on your site looks for a service that is transparent and streamlines. This applies specifically to those businesses that haven’t initiated marketing through branding. When you are absolutely anonymous to the potential customer, the only way to convince them is by keeping everything transparent so that they do not hesitate to buy anything from you. Trust is what they look for. If your payment method is shady, there is a good chance that even those who are eager to buy your product, would hesitate. This is the reason we suggest you have an online store that allows you to keep a reliable method of payment.
