The digital environment is one of the most popular ones when it comes to reaching a massive audience with minimal costs. No wonder that many businesses that were previously on-site add an online version of their portfolio.
With lower operational costs and easier maintenance, online businesses are a great way of impacting your target audience without having to reach them physically. Customer databases and subject-based advertising are two of the most powerful tools an online business manager can use. But let’s first find out why online is ultimately better than on-site for most businesses.
Online vs On-Site
From a simple yet exhaustive perspective, online stores have more advantages than disadvantages. The first and most obvious advantage is related to the schedule. Online businesses can operate round the clock without the need for someone to keep an eye on the operations. It is literally the translation of the so-popular saying, “Make money while you sleep.”
In matters of customer reach, you can target anyone from all around the globe. You, as a business owner, do not have to narrow down your business audience to the people who walk down your street every day or the people who happen to pass by your store once. Using the correct marketing strategy, you can narrow down your advertising to the right people who are more prone to buying your product or contracting your service. But we will get to this later, within the third step of How to Deploy Your Online Business.
If you opt for an online business, you do not have to worry about having someone to replace you when you go out with your significant other or when you plan on going on a vacation abroad. You can even move to another country, work a full-time job there, and manage your online business remotely with practically no effort. But for that, you will have to first successfully put your business online, make it work, and then look for another job.
One of the most popular situations when people see the actual potential of online compared to on-site is when they choose to expand their business abroad. If you are looking for global opportunities, you can always check online jobs abroad and find the position you have been looking for.
How to Deploy Your Online Business (Step-by-Step)
Saying something is easier than doing something (almost) every time. But with so many complex concepts around the digital marketing idea, sometimes it is harder to pinpoint what you want with your money-making idea than to deploy it immediately.
We have come up with a 4-step guide that will help you move along the path of success from the very beginning to the last part, and it only needs your input and effort for a couple of hours every day.
Step 1: Outline your idea
The first step you need to take before actually jumping into the online business is to outline your idea. Here are some questions you might want to answer before starting your online business:
- Who is my perfect customer?
- What problem do they have?
- How can this problem be solved?
- How can I solve their problem?
- What are the costs of solving this problem?
- How much would they be willing to pay to get their problem solved?
All these questions will help you find two things: your customer persona and your desired business strategy.
Customer persona
A customer persona is a set of characteristics that specifically describe who is most likely to buy something from your business. Usually, a persona includes demographic factors (such as age, location, and gender) and personal characteristics (such as hobbies, marital status, and profession).
Even though these factors might not seem that useful at the very beginning of your business, you will surely use them along the path, especially during the third and fourth steps.
Business strategy
Depending on what exactly you are planning on selling (goods, services, digital products, etc.), some general business strategies might fit you. Make sure to fully understand the exact characteristics of each business model before jumping to action.
The most popular business models include, but are not limited to:
- B2B (Business to Business)
- B2C (Business to Consumer)
- P2P (Peer to Peer)
- Subscription-based
Step 2: Put it online
When it comes to putting your idea online and making it work, there are a ton of options. Starting from the most basic ones – WordPress – and ending with the most complex ones – Self-hosted, self-created HTML with integrated JavaScript – there are options for every business owner.
If you are not tech-savvy, you might want to opt for a website creation service. These types of services address individuals who need a website that looks good, performs well, and deploys fast. Although the pricing might be adjusted accordingly, it is your best bet if you are not into learning how to code your platform.
Step 3: Reach your audience
This is usually the most important step you have to take when deploying your online business. It is now the perfect time to make use of the customer persona you have built during step 1. You can integrate this set of characteristics into an advertising campaign targeting only people prone to buying your product/service. This way, you cut down the costs of operational marketing and stop spending money on reaching people who will never purchase your services.
Google Ads and Meta Ads are two of the most popular advertising platforms. If you are unsure about your competencies in using those two platforms, we highly recommend reading the documentation or taking up a course. There are plenty of online courses that teach you a lot about online advertising and digital marketing.
If you do not want to spend money on advertising, SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is your best bet. This strategy takes your website and puts it first in peoples’ search results. However, seeing results takes time and requires advanced tweaking.
Step 4: Optimize
After successfully deploying your online business, all you need to do is constantly check in and adjust the operations. If you notice something is off, make sure to correct it before it affects your customers and your income.
You can delegate this task to an outsource company that will take care of the platform for you, for a monthly cost. But we think no one can be more eager to resolve issues than who runs the actual business.
To read more content like this, explore The Brand Hopper
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