There’s an old saying that “image is everything.” That bit of advice is especially true today if you’re an entrepreneur. Like the daily operations of your business, managing your online presence and establishing your presence is something that you simply can’t afford to neglect.
Part of staying in the minds of both established and potential customers is managing your online reach. One way to do that is to establish yourself as an expert in your chosen field.
If You’ve Got It — Flaunt It! No doubt you have spent years on your experience and in building up your company. Part of projecting the image you wish to create online will instill trust. You can do this by highlighting your experience. Create a profile for yourself online that shows off your education, or knowledge in your field such as what entrepreneur Scott Vollero created on his Crunchbase profile.
Scott included details about himself including his areas of expertise as an entrepreneur along with his personal story, goals and values and his education. Scott also included links to articles that he has written to help customers on their own entrepreneurial quest.
Keep Up to Date – Part of improving your presence online is staying relevant. Be sure to pay attention to any trends within your industry. Be aware of what your customers want as well as what’s hot or what’s up-and-coming. Expand on this by keeping your company website up-to-date with those trends.
Consider a Blog – Many businesses know the power of blogging. It allows them to keep in touch with their customer base and reach potential new customers by keeping them informed on what’s happening. You can also give them information that’s relevant to their needs and concerns, making blogs a powerful tool for lead generation. You can easily set up a blog on your company website.
Whether you update your blog twice a week or just a couple of times a month, it’s important to update your blog consistently. Search engines such as Google will also rank your blog better if you post regular updates. Also, allow for comments so that visitors can give you feedback or ask questions.
Some entrepreneurs will also create a “vlog” or video blog. Some of your potential customers will be searching on venues such as YouTube to see if you have information about your company and products or can offer them helpful advice. This can further enhance search engine results and your appearance as an expert.
Don’t Neglect SEO —When setting up your website, make sure to pay attention to keyword searches. Users want to find answers to their questions quickly. When you optimize your website and your blog entries with keywords, customers can find you more easily.
Guest Posts — Find other bloggers or trusted portals for your industry and contact the owners to propose a guest post. A guest post is where you post an article on someone else’s site. If you have a similar customer base, chances are they may reciprocate and propose to do a guest post on your site. This is a great way to get your presence out there.
You can also build up your online presence and reputation by being a regular participant in forums that relate to your industry as well as on social media sites such as Facebook or LinkedIn. You can further build your expertise by giving consistently good advice and regularly contributing.
Keep these strategies up and your reputation as an expert will only increase. Never stop promoting yourself!
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