Why Your Business Needs To Be Online
There’s a big reason why your business needs to be online and it all has to do with how to reach your target audience in a bigger way. Whether you’re developing a small business marketing plan, dealing with losing your job, wondering how to start an online business or grow your business online, or just thinking about what to do when laid off, click through to read why you need to start an online business or get your already existing business online STAT.
We’re in a digital day and age.
Now more than ever because of coronavirus.
Restaurants have closed their doors to the public, only allowing online or phone orders to be placed. Retail stores have closed their doors to the public, only keeping their online shops open. Grocery store pickup (where you order online first and then drop by the store for the food to be delivered to your door) has become such a hot commodity, that in some areas you can’t place an order online for pick up within the next 7 – 14 days.
Call it the lazy man’s way of life… I’m going to call it genius.
Getting online is one of the only ways some small businesses are surviving right now. The fact that they’re able to get online and continue to make sales is something we should all be thankful for (especially if you’re a small business owner).
But way before coronavirus was a thing, all businesses should have been getting themselves online. It not only would have saved tons of businesses the hassle of getting set up online in a matter of days or weeks but it would have helped them do something monumental. Something that would have increased their leads, their revenue, and changed their businesses like crazy.
What is this thing that happens when you get your business online?
As a web designer, I had a choice to make –
- Work with local businesses
- Work with business owners located around the world
For me, this was a no-brainer. I’m an introvert and there’s no way I was going to be cold calling local businesses or walking into a shop to pitch my services face-to-face. Just wasn’t going to happen. I know my strengths and I know my weaknesses and trying to sell my services in person definitely leans more toward the weakness side of the scale.
Choosing option A, working with local businesses, would have led me to have a failing business in no time at all. I’m confident about that. Choosing option B, working with business owners located around the world, was the no-brainer option for me.
How do you reach business owners located in Chiang Mai, Thailand when you’re located in a tiny town in the middle of nowhere in Macedonia? You could snail mail them your business card that has your phone number and email address on it. Most likely they’ll get it the next week and maybe they’ll give this random person (you) who they’ve never met or heard of a ring just to see how they can hand their money over to you.
You could always call them in the middle of the night when you know it’s daytime where they are. I don’t know about you but I’m always ready to pitch my services at 1 AM when I’m half asleep.
Oh, wait… does that not sound realistic? You’re right… it really doesn’t.
Reach a larger audience online
You could… bare with me… get your business online, with a website and a marketing plan.
That one sounds like a winner!
The minute you get your business online, whether it be by having a website or by marketing yourself on social media, you’re opening yourself up to a huge audience outside of your town lines. Your reach is endless when you’re online.
You’re no longer stuck to working with local businesses, having in-person meetings, cold calling, or walking into the local shop to pitch your services. When you get your business online, you can work with clients in Paris, Dublin, Chiang Mai, Barcelona, Boston, Sydney, and anywhere else your ideal client may be living.
Let’s say you have 10 strong leads in your hometown where you run your business. You put your business online and start marketing your services on your new website and on social media and all of a sudden those 10 strong leads turn into 100 strong leads. Soon enough those 100 strong leads will turn into 200 and 200 into 2000.
But if you wouldn’t have started marketing your business online, those 10 strong leads wouldn’t have multiplied at the same rate. Sure, a happy client may recommend their business owner friend in the next town over, but that’s basically like snail mail in the digital world we find ourselves in.
Grow your business by getting online
To expand your business and grow your audience, all you need to do is get your business online, and all of a sudden the entire world becomes your playing field.
As a homestay mom, I’ve worked with clients in Dublin, London, Florida, Massachusetts, Virginia, and tons of other places. I’ve made virtual friends in Australia, New York, Thailand, California, Bali, Germany, and Mexico.
Digital is the way of the world and it’s only going to become even more “normal” for businesses to get online. Whether you’re service-based or product-based, it’s time to look into getting your business online.
Wondering how you can start an online business and work with businesses all over the world? Click here to join the Laid Off No Longer waitlist – it’s a course to help you discover the skills you already have and translate them into the online business of your dreams.
P.S. Yes, this course was made with people who have been laid off in mind but even if you’re fortunate to have a job right now and you’re looking to get into the digital world, the course will help you, too!
