How to Build Your Online Business from Scratch
If you're looking to build an online business from scratch, then you're in the right place! Starting an online business can be a daunting task, but it doesn't have to be. In this blog post, I'll be sharing tips and strategies that will help you create a solid foundation for your online business, so that you can start building your empire with confidence. From choosing the right business name to setting up your website and email list, we'll cover it all. So, grab a cup of coffee and let's get started!
Developing your business idea;
How to define your niche and target market
If you're ready to start building your online business, the first step is to develop a solid business idea. This includes defining your niche and target market, which will help you determine your unique value proposition and stand out in a crowded marketplace. Perhaps you have some skills that you love to do, and would like to do more, try and understand why the customer will want to choose you.
As an example, let's take my website, where I offer Squarespace website design and building services, as well as virtual assistant tasks to help small business owners. My niche is targeting people who want a personable experience and lack the time to create themselves, but also don't want to pay huge amounts of money for a big professional service. Defining your niche and target market, you can create a business that is tailored to your specific audience and meets their needs.
One of the most exciting parts of building any type of business is coming up with a name and creating a brand identity that represents your vision and values. It's essential to make them both memorable and compelling, but don’t get stuck on this part, choose a simple name, and then build the brand around your values and services. You can add in all your name idea’s into Asic’s website to see if they are available. Once you have settled on your business name, it’s a great idea to check if the domain name is available to purchase. you can use VentraIP’s service here. You want to choose something that is easy to remember, easy to spell, and represents your brand.
Creating logo and building a user-friendly site
Now that you have your business name, its now time to create a logo. You can find someone on Fiverr or design this yourself in something like Canva.
To start with, just do something simple, choose one or two colours, choose a font and then create it. Remember, you can always rebrand in the future!
With the website, it’s great to use a friendly CMS builder like Squarespace or Wix. I find Squarespace more simple than wix and their support is amazing.
Decide how many pages of your website, maybe just start with one page to get started with. You can do it! or i will help you.
Add in your logo and colours and choose your fonts in the design or theme settings.
Now with the text you will need:
Title for your page - use your business name + location
Sub title - how you are going to improve your the customers problem.
About you and your business
Services you are providing
Testimonials/reviews
Contact details
You can also use some free stock images or take images of yourself to add onto your website. If you need any help with your website, let me know I’d be happy to help, contact me here.
Setting up social media accounts and creating posts
Setting up social media accounts is a crucial step for any business or brand looking to establish an online presence. I’d siggest creating a Facebook page, an Instagram page, and even maybe a Pinterest or Tiktok account. Once these accounts are established, posting engaging and relevant content on a regular basis can help to increase brand awareness and attract new followers.
When creating posts, it's important to keep your target audience in mind and tailor your messaging to their interests and needs. In Canva, they have loads of premade styled templates for social media that you can use and then edit the colours, text and images to suit your brand.
Utilising eye-catching visuals, hashtags, and other social media features can also help to increase engagement and reach on your posts. Consistency is key when it comes to social media marketing, so establishing a posting schedule and sticking to it can help to build a loyal following over time.
Can i use a social media scheduler to help with task management ?
YES! i use a free account on Metricool for my socials, i am able to post to facebook, instagram and pinterest the same content at the same time. This really makes the time reduced being able to schedule. I’d be happy to help set this up for you too if you need!
Need some help with setting up your business online ? why not give me a call or drop me an email at rachel@redcatdigital.au to see how i can help you.
