By: Katryna Johnson, J.D.
- Determine your branding colors and have a logo created. Take a look at the services of Fabulous Business Solutions (FabulousBizSolutions.com).
- Trademark your logo with your state if you intend to be a primarily local brand. If you want to sell nationally or globally, consider registering your logo with the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
- Obtain 3 or more professional photographs – a head shot, a shot to represent your product/service and a shot of you or your product in action (If you are in the Charleston, SC, area, I recommend Focus on Fabulous Creative Photography).
- Purchase a website domain name (I recommend GoDaddy.com).
- Determine your website hosting (I recommend Bluehost.com).
- Set up an email in your business name. This is a paid service on many hosts, but Bluehost will include a free email account if you sign up for hosting with them.
- Create a Website (I recommend building on WordPress). There are dozens of tutorials and templates around that can help you build a simple site yourself or hire a web design company. Your first site can have as few as five pages – a Home page, an About page, a Services page, a Contact Us page, and a blog or storefront.
- Create a Business Page on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn if all apply. You do not have to be on all of them, but you want to have some presence online for your business.
- Create a Social Media plan/strategy. Think about how often to post, what topics to post about, and how to engage with your potential customers or clients.
- Join groups on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Pick a few to be very highly engaged with.
- Create a Strategic Marketing Plan for each Initiative / income stream in your business. Set SMART goals for each revenue stream in your business.
- Create up to 20 posts about your business (mix of approaches) and rotate among the different social media platforms.
- Create a Marketing Budget. Though it seems like marketing online is free, there are still costs you need to be aware of. You will need to buy business cards, brochures, a nice name tag, maybe a logoed tee-shirt, displays for a vendor event, paid ads, entry to a vendor show, and other expenses. Determine how much you want to spend each month and stick to it.
- Set up a commercial email management account (I rec-ommend aWeber.com) and build a list of buyers, clients and followers.
- Research and Join networking groups and professional associations. These groups are invaluable sources of help and information. Choose a couple and dive in. I highly recommend you join our Mirelli Entrepreneur Training for Women group on Facebook.
- Hire a consultant or coach. If you are ready to take the next step, I would love to speak with you and see if working with me would be a good fit for your business. Call me at 843-824-4025.