Over the past year, the world has changed. Since the Covid- 19 virus outbreak, things have become so complicated. People have lost their jobs and pay cuts. It doesn’t stop there; it’s become challenging too for entrepreneurs, making it difficult to survive in the market, as businesses are going online every day. Fortunately, these challenges have provided entrepreneurs with more opportunities and practical tools to grow their businesses.
It has been said every entrepreneur now is a digital entrepreneur. This is true in a sense but not entirely. Entrepreneurs are going online to build, launch and grow their business, but most still stick to the traditional organizational structure.
A Digital Entrepreneur creates new ventures or transforms existing businesses online using digital tools and technologies. So let’s jump into something more concrete that can benefit you if you’re looking to start your business online.
What do you need to do to be a Digital Entrepreneur?
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Identify a need
While starting up a business, the people look for a product first and then the market. But if you want to start a successful business, you need to see the market first. It would be best to look for a community looking for a solution to a specific problem and not finding many options.
That’s when the internet can help you find such kinds of options. You can visit online forums to get ideas for your business, explore what people are asking for and what solutions are they getting. You need to find the need and then try to start something that fulfils that need. Try to figure out something to fill that need.
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Design and create a website
When you get your idea in place, you need a selling platform, your website. Whether you are a small business, freelancer or a big company, having your website is essential for your business’s success. Always keep your website as simple and as responsive as possible. You hardly have 3-5 seconds to get someone’s attention. Most of your potential customers may go away if your website lags or lacks speed, and when you lose them, it’s challenging to get their attention back. So here are some tips that you can follow to make a good business website:
- Register a good Domain name for your website.
- Have secure and well-known web hosting.
- Display a proper description of your business on the website.
- Make the navigation clear and simple.
- Make it easier to buy for customers.
- Have a subscription box to collect customer’s emails.
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Having Social media presence
If you go digital, make sure to have your social media presence. Besides your website, you also need to keep your social media a/cs updated. These platforms are like opportunity platforms that can help you find new prospects, build relationships with existing customers and grow your community.
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Find a mentor/ coach
If you are new to the digital world, you better look for a mentor/coach. It would help if you had someone who can guide you at every critical step you take during your entrepreneurial journey, maybe the one who has hands-on experience with the latest trends and tools.
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Attend webinars/workshops
Like we mentioned at the start that challenges can turn into opportunities. As per the world’s current scenario, there are so many free webinars / workshops / masterclasses / personality tests that you can benefit from. Some even allow you to access their tools for FREE. So look out for such events that can help your business grow. Never miss this opportunity; grab it!
A Bonus for you!
Here are a few marketing strategies you can opt for:
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Online Promotion
There are many businesses online, hence it is necessary to promote your business online to rank above all your competitors in search results. To promote online your business there are two ways: Search Engine Optimisation and Search Engine Marketing.
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) - Search Engine Optimization is a long, free and time-consuming technique. It is basically a practice of increasing the web traffic to your website through search engines like Google, Yahoo and Bing.
Search Engine Marketing (SEM) – Search Engine Marketing is the easiest and fastest way to get customers on your website but you will need to pay for it. It is a practice of increasing web traffic using paid advertisements that appear in search results of any search engine.
You can use both techniques but only if you have staff that can handle both.
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Email Marketing
Email Marketing is one of the most effective ways to connect with your customers. When you have a subscription box on your website, you can get the email addresses of your customers and later you can mail them offers and details of the new products you are offering. You can use various email marketing tools available online like Hubspot, Mailchimp, Mailjet and many more. Most of them come with free email marketing tools but you can upgrade them and get more benefits.
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Back-end and Upsell Products
Bank-end and Upselling are some of the most crucial but often overlooked marketing strategies in online business. If you have made a sale, there are 36% chances that you can sell again to the same customer if you follow up. Once a customer has spent money with you, it is a sign that the customer trusts you or your product and is more likely to buy the next product you recommend.
It would help if you recommended something that compliments the product they already purchased, or you can give them a gift voucher for the next purchase. If you reward them with even something small, they will stay your loyal customers forever.
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Summary
The points mentioned above are essential, but that doesn’t mean it ends here. The internet world is massive, so you need to keep an eye on topics that are of your interest and always keep yourself updated with all the latest trends happening around to get a clear direction on what path to follow in your job, business and investments
We bet there are other essential tips we might have missed or not covered. You can help us by commenting down below.