While many of us don’t expect to become a massive entrepreneurial outfit, many people find satisfaction and passive income from running their own online business. This might manifest in many different ways including running a small eBay store; making crafts and selling them on Etsy like I do; retexturing clothes and selling them through Depop; or using freelance websites to provide services using a skillset you have. Setting up a small online business can be satisfying, interesting, and give you plenty of autonomy over your creative ambition.
That said, while the rules are perhaps a little less set in stone here, particularly in how you structure and develop your small business, it’s important to keep in mind a few home truths. This post highlights three elemental efforts you can take to help structure and better promote your online business, while also retaining your safety. Please, consider:
Use a Physical Address
Using a physical address can help you secure your privacy, route correspondence to an external address, and also ensure that your business looks like it’s nestled in a proper location. But you may not wish to give away your direct home address to prove that. There are many excellent services that can provide this value to you, and setting this up, integrating it with Evernote, and making sure that you are able to track this communication can give you a big advantage when it comes to defining your business scope. A business address is also necessary to maintain an email list.
Curate Your Website Properly
Make sure to use a worthwhile website, one linked to your social media profiles. The site is a portfolio of your work, a hub for your communication, and even an online store to order from. WordPress and Squarespace are known as the top two services providing this value, but shopping around and choosing which storefront is most appropriate to you is important. For instance, you may wish to keep everything well-measured on Etsy, as this is where most people will look to find the same handcrafted items you are selling. Sometimes the platform is just as important as what it offers both you and the consumers, as brand familiarity is a real consideration to make use of.
Include a Blog
If your blog isn’t already your business, your business needs a blog. Regular, engaging content can drive traffic to your site, establish you as an authoritative figure in your niche, and helps with the SEO (search engine optimization) ranking of your blog. Do your research and find out how to write a blog post that engages readers and encourages them to think more, search for solutions and generally get them to interact with your business a little further. High-quality content and images are some of the best things that you can do for your website.
Think Through The Consumer Process
Thinking through the consumer process is incredibly useful. How will they regard your brand? Is your logo high enough resolution to be made out? Do you have your information front and center on your social media profiles? Where can they check for past reviews or testimonials? How do you explain how your purchasing operates, and how can they expect goods or services to be delivered? Asking these questions as an impartial observer can help you understand how to structure your approach here. It makes a difference.
With this advice, we hope you can more easily set up the small online business you want.