Modern technology allows us to do many things that we could not have done 20 years ago. Being able to carry your whole world around on your laptop, tablet, phone, or all three means you can take advantage of the flexibility of running your business – including marketing – from anywhere.
While it’s convenient to be able to carry your business with you wherever you go, you still may need a home base. As your business grows, are you ready to take your company out of your canvas bag and into a professional workspace in a shared environment? It’s an exciting step, and so much easier and more affordable than committing to a long-term lease.
Time for a Private Workspace
Taking that leap to a private workspace usually coincides with a period of growth. You need more room, you have more clients, you’re making more money. This is the perfect time to kickstart a digital marketing campaign.
You may be thinking, why do I need to promote myself if my business is growing? So many sole proprietorships and startups think they can save money by foregoing expenditures on marketing, but it’s a big mistake. Your competitors will get ahead of you, and you may never catch up.
That being said, you may not be able to hire a top Madison Avenue firm to hawk your talents. No matter — there are many tools that make it easy to use basic digital marketing to promote your business. But before you embark on your digital marketing campaign, take a look at our tips for building a successful strategy.
- Make a Facebook page for your business.
Regardless of what’s happening with Facebook these days, don’t discount its power as a marketing tool. Of course you can use Facebook to advertise, but equally important is keeping your page up-to-date and posting frequently to help drive traffic to your business.
In a Business News Daily article entitled “How to Promote Your Small Business on Facebook,” the author reminds small-business owners that if they don’t have a Facebook page, they might be considered old-fashioned or seen as less legitimate. Many millennials and Gen Xers think that not having a Facebook or an Instagram is sketchy — as if you’re hiding something. Equally bad is having potential clients think you don’t know how to create a Facebook page.
A social media presence is a must. Hire a college student to manage it for you if you need help.
- Use SEO on your website.
Search engine optimization is not a nebulous concept; it’s a real tool and your Google rankings depend on it. Determine what words are most associated with your type of business, and work them into the pages on your website.
When you do this correctly, it can boost traffic to your site immensely, and this translates to a bigger bottom line. When it’s done incorrectly, it doesn’t help — and can even hurt — your business, so take a few minutes to learn some basic rules of SEO.
- Post blogs on your website.
Business blogs are a powerful marketing tool that cost little to produce. If you write them yourself, it only costs you your time. If you’re not a writer and you hire a professional, the cost is still significantly less than ads on prominent sites.
Don’t have time to write your blogs? Brainstorm some ideas for the writer. If you are a lawyer, for instance, who advises clients in areas of business and contract law, you could write blogs hitting on various aspects of your practice. You don’t want to give away valuable advice, so tackle the subjects in general terms. Potential clients will find your site when they are looking for answers.
Even if no one reads your blogs, they are still helpful marketing tools, because you can use your list of SEO keywords, and it would boost your site in the rankings.
- Establish yourself as an authority.
You want to set yourself apart from others in your industry. One great way to do this, besides blogging, is to create a webinar, webcast, or a podcast. People love audio and video because they can do other things while they’re listening.
For instance, if you are an accountant, you may have someone interview you about how to save money on your taxes if you own a small business. Write the questions (and the answers) yourself. But don’t read them; speak extemporaneously.
Keep them short. It’s better to make several short tapings about different topics than one long one that no one will be able to finish in one sitting.
For some great advice about where and how to start, check out, “Digital Marketer’s Guide to Podcasts, Webcasts, and Webinars.”
- Don’t forget email and SMS.
Some business owners have abandoned this seasoned marketing method in favor of newer, flashier approaches. But that’s a mistake. Marketing via email and SMS can be extremely valuable.
True, spamming lots of strangers with emails or texts about your business is probably not going to bring in many new customers. However, slowly and surely building a list of current customers to whom you send messages about specials or new offerings can be extremely valuable. How else will your customers know about your new certification or your expanded service area unless you tell them?
You just have to be careful not to send too many messages, because no one wants their phones stuffed with ads, no matter how much they love a company.
Managing Your Small Business
As a small-business owner, you’re used to making all the decisions on your own. You know when you’re outgrowing the laptop and filing cabinet you’ve been calling an office. But you also know a noisy shared workspace chock full of mismatched furniture and recent college grads isn’t for you.
Premier Workspaces offers all the benefits of private workspaces without the hassles that come with the other flexible office spaces that only serve the masses. Our clients are established small-business owners looking for upscale, affordable office space.
Many sole proprietorships have little aspirations of expanding. Their client base might grow, they might hire an assistant, but they don’t have a need to lease their own office space. The costs just don’t make sense for them.
This growing group of entrepreneurs turns to the private workspace. The benefits are many. There is no lengthy contract; you can rent shared office space for an hour, a day, a week, a month or a year. There is no obligation. You get your own private workspace, but you also have access to meeting rooms and conference rooms.
Everything you need is right at your fingertips — all the furniture and supplies, from the biggest desk and computer to the drawer with the pencils and paperclips. If there is anything you ever need that we don’t have, just let our helpful and friendly staff know; we can get it for you ASAP.
Private Workspaces + Digital Marketing = Business Success
Small-business owners often do all the jobs related to their company themselves. They are the customer service reps, the trained experts, the help desk, and the payroll department. So why not the marketer too?
You started your business with your laptop and phone. They’ve gotten you this far, and they will take you so much further! Successful small-business owners know the value of private workspaces, and they put their faith in the magic of digital marketing. Join the club. Call Premier Workspaces today and get started in your own private workspace.
Published by: C. Brown | 06/11/2019
