So you are determined to make money online. Congrats for taking the decision! That’s your first step to a successful online career – a determined mindset.
You show no fear of losing a safe and regular income. You want to go all in. Decision Phase, completed!
Do you have your business plan already?
Now that you’ve left that Decision Phase behind, it’s time for you to take action and begin planning what you need for an online business.
First of all, if you haven’t filled out the interactive business plan yet, I suggest that you try it out before starting to plan how your online presence should look like. It’s really easy and it’s going to help you brainstorm what you actually want. Besides, it’s not gonna take you more than 20 minutes of your time – I bet you that going to be even less.
Planning Phase
Not everyone needs to have everything, but you should have at least one of these options:
♥ Create a website -> It doesn’t have to be too complex. But make sure you know what your website goal is:
– Just a place where you can “welcome” your visitors and present yourself – This is what I call a virtual business card
– Lead generation. The main purpose of your site is to get as many email subscribers as possible.
– Online shop. An e-commerce to sell your products or services.
– A newsroom to keep your community or customers updated.
♥ Launch a blog -> It’s easier and quicker to create than a website, but its “maintenance” is much higher:
– You’re supposed to update the content regularly. Never mind if it’s once a day, a week or a month – but regularly.
– You can’t create a blog and that’s all. Well, you can, but you ain’t gonna earn any money…
– It’s usually much more personal than a static website, so be prepared to expose yourself out there 🙂
♥ Create a portfolio -> This is the quickest option ’cause it’s like an online resumé. You can either:
– Have a simple website with your portfolio on it
OR
– Upload it on platforms such as About.me, Fiverr or Upwork among others. Join job boards and directories specialized in your branch – the more specific, the better. For example, if you’re a creative, you should be uploading your work to Behance.
Ideally, you have a combination of all 3 options: A website which includes a blog and a portfolio page. In this case, it should at least have the following pages:
♥ Homepage – Your welcome page.
♥ About – Where you introduce yourself or your company.
♥ Portfolio – Where you can brag about everything you’ve done so far.
♥ Blog – This kind of blogs are usually perfect for attracting traffic to your website (and buy your services/products)
♥ Contact – You want your customers to know how to contact you 😉
♥ Services / Work with me / Shop – It depends on the kind of product you’re offering, but you get the idea, right?
Social Media
Make sure you update all your social media profiles to reflect your company’s new name.
You don’t have to be active on all social media networks, but try to block for you the most popular ones (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Interest, LinkedIn, and Google+ at least). In this way, you can use them if you change your mind AND nobody can use your name for their profiles.
In case you haven’t, please check out this post about online reputation. It may not seem that important, but it can spoil a good deal.
Planning your Online Presence – Final Checklist
Did you think only big companies need a website? You want to stand out, show off your products or services, AND reach your clients.
There are many kinds of websites. Have you already figured out what yours is going to be like?
Let’s recap your steps:
1. You know what you’re offering on your online business – Don’t forget to check out your free ebook to find your digital version!
2. You have filled out your business plan
3. You’ve decided what’s your online presence goal – What this post is actually about 😉
Take your time to think it all through. In my opinion, planning it all well ahead makes it much easier when it’s time for the Action Phase.
Stay tuned!
xoxo,
Alicia
PS. Do you already have something in mind? I’d love to know! Leave your comment below.
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Hey I know this is off topic but I was wondering if
you knew of any widgets I could add to my blog that automatically
tweet my newest twitter updates. I’ve been looking for a plug-in like this
for quite some time and was hoping maybe you would
have some experience with something like this. Please let
me know if you run into anything. I truly enjoy reading
your blog and I look forward to your new updates.
Hi Sheryl!
Thanks for your nice words!
You want to show your new tweets on your blog, right? Maybe this post can help you. They have a step-by-step video: http://www.wpbeginner.com/wp-tutorials/how-to-display-recent-tweets-in-wordpress-with-twitter-widgets/
Let me know if it worked!
Alicia
I love this step by step guide!
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