Your customers expect to find you online. So what do you do if you're not there? This is a scenario that affects many startups as they look for investors and initial customers. Surprisingly, it also concerns several older, smaller businesses that have snoozed for the past 17 years hoping that "this Internet thing" would just go away.
Well, it hasn't.
So how to you communicate your basic business information while you're waiting to invest in you website? How do you establish your expertise online without owning your own domain name? How will new customers get to know you and to trust you? We've put together these three effective ways to answer these questions. However, to be found online, it is important that you make the move to your own website at some point. When that time comes, Hamptons Creative Group can help.
- The obvious way: Social Media. LinkedIn and Facebook are the most common ways for new businesses to establish an online presence without a website. LinkedIn, with its focus on professional business networking, is the clear platform to establish yourself, while Facebook, because of the volume of users, is the clear way to pick up followers. Creating a business presence on these systems is slightly more complicated than setting up a personal account. That's why Hamptons Creative Group has an affordable "do it for you" service to make sure your business is connected the right way.
- The overlooked way: Guest Articles & Blog Posts. You know what you are saying and how to say it. So, borrow someone else's soapbox and audience. Getting published on an established blog saves you from having to set up your own blog and seek out readers. To get started, check out this community of guest bloggers or if you are the highly competitive type, try this head-to-head blogging site. If you are unsure about how to create your blog "pitch" Hamptons Creative Group can assist you. And once your website is set up, you can start attracting customers to a blog you create for yourself.
- The little known way: Shoutmy.biz. Shout My Biz is a tool for creating an online profile for your business quickly. How quickly? It took us 4 minutes and 3 seconds to create our profile (https://shoutmy.biz/HamptonsCreativeGroup). We couldn't sum up the service any better than they have already: This tool is not a website builder; however, it does serve as a hub where you can share important information, link to external social profiles and collect data from your visitors.
What other ways can you think of to get found online prior to your website launch? Read more from Hamptons Creative Group here: http://www.hamptonscreative.com/interact
Stacey Hoepfner