Hey there!
Dachia here. Welcome back to Focus on your small business. I hope you all had a great week since last we spoke.
I wanted to quickly discuss some ideas you may have had or you may have never thought of.
Ways to get out there… online.
I think some of us are caught in old ideas. Like a small business has walls and a counter and a physical product.
That is one way to do it.
But in all likelihood, you are trying to find a way to be a bit less burdened. Something you can do on your own, start in your spare time and that will hopefully, eventually, take the place of your regular job.
No matter what you decide to do, you’ll want a website. If this is something you thought about and decided against, please revisit your thought process.
Now your site could be a simple landing page or it could be quite full with several pages and a blog and a forum… whatever. In any case, you do need and want something online that is the hub for your small business.
Now, I’ve had a website, dachia.com, since like 2005. And it has gone through constant changes. It is never done. Because I’m never done. I started as a health coach for Natural Horsemen.
Whatever your site is right now or tomorrow, it can change. Nothing is written in stone. Use it as a place to try stuff. Try on new ideas and see if they fit you.
You can do that with all the big boys: Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Pinterest, LinkedIn and Twitter.
All of them are super easy to set up, and more importantly… to change.
If you have a love for something… be it quilting or matchbox cars, find a group for it and join. Through this experience, you’ll get a feel for groups… and whether or not you want to start one. They are a lot of work. But if it is your passion, it may be worth it to you.
You can also create a page on Facebook and put yourself out there. Through a page, you can introduce yourself and your business idea. Start building relationships. In other groups that are not yours, you can be helpful and supportive. Answer questions. Let people get to know you.
You can actually sell a product directly through facebook, but I’d encourage you to not do that. Instead build relationships and after people know, like and trust you, run an ad, or post a bit, on your page, about what you offer on your site.
The goal is to drive traffic to your site. It’s the only thing you own and control. Everything else is just rented and the landlord can change the agreement at any time. I strongly encourage you to not build on those platforms, instead use those platforms as much as possible… to drive traffic to yours.
Facebook is a great place to connect and build relationships.
Twitter is super easy to get involved in. You can do a search for any topic using a hashtag or @ symbol and find lots of conversations to take part in. Again, connecting with real people as a real person.
You’ll hear Gary Vaynurchuck talk about how he built Wine Library from practically nothing to what it is today by spending hours online, after he already put in a full day of work in the store, searching for something like pinot noir and getting involved in conversations about wine.
While Twitter is busier now than it was, that can actually work in your favor… it’s just easier to find more conversations.
Again creating an account or trying on a persona on your existing account, is a great way to dive in and see if something feels right for you. I have two Twitter accounts. One that is just my name. And another that has changed a few… or several times through the years. I am now just using my personal one for everything that is me, because for me, the business and the person is really the same thing, so it just makes sense. But I may change the handle and direction of that second twitter account one day. The point is, just don’t be afraid to create an account and flesh it out and see where it goes or doesn’t.
When I first created my LinkedIn account back in the day, I had it spotlighting my speaking. First I was speaking on natural health, then I don’t remember… but probably still speaking. Over the years, that account has morphed to suit my needs at the time. And that’s ok.
Yes, there are people out there who have one thing and that’s all they do and it never changes.
Good for them.
But that’s not me and if it’s not you, I just want to say it’s ok. You’ll be fine.
If you have an idea of the business person you aspire to, go look at one of your accounts and see what fits and what doesn’t.
Just a heads up on LinkedIn. Before you make any changes, be sure to unclick the button that says you want everybody to know you made these changes… That button is great for those normals who are putting in that they got a promotion at the company they’ve been with for 20 years… shudder… but for those of us who are in reinventing mode, it is obnoxious for your connections to get notifications every time you tweak your profile.
Because you’ll be tweaking it a lot.
I have a 1 minute tutorial on how to do that on my youtube channel.
Basically, what I want to get across to you here.. the big takeaway is that you can change any of your profiles at any time. And doing so, is a great way to try on a new ideas and see what part of it fits you and your small business and what part doesn’t.
Don’t be afraid that somebody will see it and then see that you’ve changed it a day or a week later. This is for you. Change yourself and you’re profiles any time.
I still tweak mine. While my overall Me is the same, I sometimes think of a better phrase for what I do or who I do it for… so I go through and change all my profiles to reflect that.
Thanks for joining me today. See ya next time. Have a great week. It’s all up to you… with a little bit of me.