3 TIPS FOR GETTING YOUR BUSINESS OFF THE GROUND
Starting any business takes effort, time and dedication as well as money in the vast majority of cases, but despite your best efforts, it can take a long time for your business to become noticed, accepted or profitable. Most businesses take until the third year of operation to turn a profit but this shouldn’t deter you from investing all that you have.
While your time and dedication will go a long way and are crucial for your business, no matter what it is, there are some tried and tested methods that can help boost profitability by appealing to as wide an audience as possible, including:
● Corporate identity
● Advertising
● Marketing
Image Courtesy of Pixabay
Deciding on an image is one of the first things you should do as it will be associated with your business forever while advertising can cost a lot, it is a necessary expense for attracting new customers and eventually pays for itself, and marketing should be a top priority for exposure both online and off.
Outward Appearances
When you think of McDonald’s you see the golden arches when you imagine Disney it's hard not to see Mickey’s ears and Coca-Cola made a point of registering their Contour bottle as a trademark. These are all part of each brand’s corporate identity i.e. something that is associated with their brand and/or is instantly recognisable. Such things as logos, letterheads and outdoor signs contribute to corporate ID and can have lasting effects on your business; just think of "New Coke"!
This type of identification doesn't only apply to aesthetics in order to look good, but the corporate ID also extends to how information regarding your company is managed on a local level, internal and external and by all employees. Companies can even go so far as to make sure that the same typeface size and the exact color is used across all media relating to them.
No More Mad Men
The times of Madison Avenue swindlers have come and gone but advertising remains an exceptional and necessary part of the business. While glossy magazines, prime-time TV and international newspapers might be beyond the scope of your business, there are other ad mediums that can have a huge impact on business.
Google Ads and even social media can help on a local level which is where you will probably want most customers anyway. If not only for the new customer potential, Google and social media ads are an excellent way of analyzing information at a level that was never previously possible and these analytics can help in the formation of both short and long-term strategies.
The Digital Millennium
Not to be confused with advertising, marketing relates to the distribution of materials and information regarding your business. This includes such things as the promotion of goods and services through physical media such as flyers and limited edition packaging as well as online digital media such as social media campaigns, PPC and digital assets.
Digital marketing is probably the most relevant type of marketing these days and cannot be underestimated as a viable solution to the common business problem of relevant exposure. Utilizing such things as SEO for your company, website or blog, product pages and promotional videos is a start while this can also extend to email marketing and multimedia digital ads.