Steps for a business foundation: (years as a business owner offline, & 5 years marketing online.)
“My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive with some passion, compassion humour and style”
-M. Angelow
3 Ways For Small Business Success Results:
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Let's start with what do you want to get
out of your own business
- Financial security
- More time with family
- Freedom to travel
Everyone has their own reasons. Mine is to ensure
that my family has a steady recurring income, &
eventually traveling with family is one of my goals.
Planning is Step # 1
Decide what it is that you want for yourself.
Take your idea for a business & write it down. This is your business plan.
I started out looking for a job online, that doesn't really happen, unless you are marketing a product or service.
It took me many years to learn what I could possibly do online.
I learned to market my own business offline on the net.
When you write down a goal, you give it shape and potential in your minds eye.
Draw a flow chart with all the steps.
Then you make your small business success real.
Whatever that goal is, write it on a separate sheet of paper, set a deadline, and make a plan and take massive imperfect action on your plan. It doesn't have to be perfect, you just have to start. Then do something every single day that moves you towards that goal. This plan of action could change your life!
For your small business success -
What will be your Tag Line?
What is Your WHY for doing this?
Think of a Mission Statement:
Mine is connecting your business to the net.
Core Message
- ( based on your mission statement.)
Do you have a the Central Solution that
you provide?
-Secondary Topics that support your
core message?
For more on this
Step # 2 Implementation
Making Your Small Business Work
Make a list, moving it off your mental to-do list into a concrete plan.
Creating a Digital Product
There are different outcomes, which one will my audience willingly pay for? Use a test Freebie to find out. More info...
Test your idea first with your Freebie - people give for their email address for it.
Different outcomes, which one will my audience willingly pay for?
. Is this idea attractive to my audience?
. What do they get purchasing your product?
. An outcome led product is what sells.
. Does the outcome sell your product?
. What do they walk away with?
. Does the outcome promise a result?
What can people expect if they buy what You are selling? Do you get them an outcome?
Keeping Track
When Do I Want To Accomplish ?
What are your Goals?
Use a variety of tools to keep track
Asana, Google Calendar, Air Table
and Trello.
- Use Deadlines
In the next 90 Days?
Jan 31 - 4
Feb 28 - 4
Mar 31 - 5 - Total 96 days
- 13 Sundays - Total 83 Working days
What is the Average Sale?
Income Goal #1 ___________
Income Goal # 2 __________
- For more info on this topic
- Business Ideas for Small Business Success.
Step # 3 Promotion
Advertising for Your Small Business Success
SEO
When I started out I really did not understand using keywords, but it is essential to understand the basics of using keywords, in Google, and in Pinterest too. People are looking for terms online, keywords work.
Basically, it means you create a comprehensive, well written article and you optimize it for your most important keyword(s). Then, you link to these articles in other pages and blogs, which focus on long tail keywords.
When you use an internal linking structure , it shows the search engines that your content is the most complete, most important articles on your site, which increases their chances to rank significantly.
With SEO, you distinguish between head keywords and long tail keywords. A long tail keyword is more specific than a head keyword. It usually consists of more words. The head keyword is a general term which lots of people write about. A long tail keyword is a more specific topic of the head term. Usually, it is something that less people create content about this topic. "Red children's shiny shoes" as an example rather than "Red shoes."
When writing your article ask yourself these questions:
- What kind of search term(s) do you want to be found for?
- What would the search question look like?
Which words will people will use find you?
When talking about keywords, a lot of times we mean a phrase instead of just one word. You need to tell Google what your page is all about. This is one of the reasons you use a focus keyphrase, helping you stay focused on the subject.
Use a checklist as you are writing the page.
Some examples of key on-page SEO elements include:
Using one H1 heading for your title
Having H2 and H3 headings that use long tail
keywords where appropriate (don’t stuff , keep it natural)
An URL that features the main keyword phrase & isn’t too long
- Add relevant images & ALT text includes the keyword & description of what the image is ( this is for people who can not see well )
- Have your main keyword for the first 100 words
Use it naturally in the post a couple of times more along with related LSI keywords “LSI Keyword is keyword that is semantically linked to a main keyword. In a nutshell, LSI keywords are keywords that we generally find related to a main keyword.
LSI Keywords - https://lsigraph.com/
Have an SEO friendly meta description (tag under the listing)
I write my meta description when I’ve finished writing the post, at the same time I write the description. You will know by then all of what the piece contains and can write an great meta description.
Don't make it more than 135-160 characters, to show in search engine results any longer and it will be cut off. Think of it as a mini-sales pitch explaining what the post is and why would someone want to read this post? What problem does it solve for them? How does it help them?
Make sure it is mobile friendly!
This is so important and many
people don't get this right. The emphasis on mobile is growing by leaps and bounds.
Stats show there’s a good chance that you or the next person reading this is on a mobile. So the stats show...
What % of searches are done on mobile?
According to official Google statements, more than 50 percent of search queries globally now come from mobile devices. But we don't know whether the number is 51 percent or 60 percent, or if its varies significantly by country.
Ensuring your content is mobile
friendly is important!
There are lots of ways to do this. Top of the list is ensuring your website is mobile responsive – What does that mean? It automatically adapts to whatever device your reader is using. Be it a smart phone, an
ipad or a computer screen. It shows them everything as it should be, completely readable, and scales to their screen.
Check Your Site Speed
Site speed is really important and can be complicated to master. There are quite a few variables and different tools to check your site speed and they often give different results! This is a ranking factor and it is growing in importance . If people bounce away from your site because the content takes too long to load that affects your SEO.
Site speed also depends on your website host. I recommend SiteGround (very fast.)
Have Social Sharing Buttons
You have this terrific article content that covers the entire topic for your reader. It's, well written and gives them oodles of value – they really love it and want to share it online with their friends.
But there where are your social sharing buttons?
You missed out on sharing and likely they are not going to take down the URL Gone!
It's a simple thing to add sharing buttons to your site, mostly free too. You want people to share your content, social proof is very important. So make it easy for them to do it! I’m using Social Warfare at the moment on their free plan with my social buttons on the side bar.
Pinterest Image
If you want to share on Pinterest you need the share buttons on your site but there’s no
Pinterest optimised image you can't share it.
Adding an optimised image and ensuring it has its own optimised description doesn’t need to be complicated. It makes it much easier for people to share your content.
To find out more about Pinterst .
A new Weekly/Monthly Planner is a great idea. 10 ideas on organizing your business.
Need help with your Small Business Success plan?
As you can see there are many keys to a successful small business, but planning and implementation are the basic foundation. After 10 years in an offline business and 5 years with an online business I have learned the hard way with trial and error.
If I can help you so it doesn't take you SOOOO
long to achieve success...
I am happy to chat for 15 mins to see if we would be a good fit.
Sign in on my contact page to book
your call.
Free - (Tuesdays)
Looking forward to chatting.
About Kathryn Maclean-Racicot
https://www.facebook.com/KathrynRMaclean
Social Media Campaign specialist using Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram
