Unless you’ve been living under a rock (a huge one at that..lol)—- there is no secret that we’re living in a global digital world. From blogging to e-commerce, everyone has a digital footprint to some degree. That’s just the nature of society that we’re living in. Employers are finding talent online thanks to sites like LinkedIn. Romantic hopefuls are finding their soulmates online via sites like match.com. Millions of freelancers are chronicling their passions through content publishing on blogging platforms like Tumblr, WordPress or Blogger—and businesses are connecting with new and potential customers. But what does it really take to establish a strong online presence?
1. Own Your Domain. Owning your own website domain name and email sends the message that you mean business. It establishes credibility and reputation. It’s professional. Let’s face it, we have to start somewhere and if that somewhere means that you started out only with a facebook page, a Blogger site (domain.blogspot.com) or WordPress (domain.wordpress.com) site–upgrading and owning your own domain (businessname.com) with a corresponding domain email (info@businessname.com) sets the stage for the image and perception that people establish about your brand–whether personal or professional. Domain names are fairly inexpressive. You can check out these options here.
2. Killer Website Design. When I speak of a great website design, I’m obviously speaking to the design aesthetics but most importantly—speaking to how your information or content is laid out. You can have a $5K website built that is killer in every sense (graphics, optimization, responsiveness, interactive), but if your content is poorly organized—then forget it. When folks visit your website and can’t find what they are looking for or don’t know what they should be looking for, they are going to leave. With no hesitation.
3. Stay True to You. Authenticity is so important. People can tell whether your message is authentic or true to you and your business simply by if your words are spoken through your actions. If you aim to portray yourself online differently than you do offline—eventually folks will find out. It’s totally ok to be authentically different, especially in business.
4. Own Your Story. Leverage your past experiences to establish a meaningful and emotional connection with your audience or customers. Everyone has a story. What’s yours? People connect and relate well to stories. Whether it’s your personal bio or business about page—your story should be authentic, compelling and inspiring. At the end of the day, there is only one you; and sharing and owning what makes you uniquely you is what’s most intriguing about what you do.
5. Stay Consistent. Now that you’ve secured your domain name—the next step will be to reserve your social media accounts associated to that domain. Creating a consistent name/brand recognition across social media platforms makes it highly possible to find you online. Then start connecting with your audience via blog, social media, webinars,etc on a consistent basis. Staying consistent in life is the only way to begin to start seeing true returns on investment. The bottom line is—-stay the course.
