May | 2012 | Warren Knight Blog

BlogPosts from May, 2012

How To Make Your Online Business A Success

Starting a business can be one of the most exciting yet stressful things you could do in life. With so much to take into consideration when starting an online venture, I will share with you some key points you will need to address when launching a successful online business.

1. Preparation is key

You have a lot to do when starting an online business so you will need to prepare a structured plan suitable for your new venture. You will need to ask yourself;

Do you have a Domain Name? If not try 123-reg.co.uk or networksolutions.com.
Have you claimed your Business through Google Places? This is a great, free way to promote yourself.
Have you looked into Google Webmaster, Google Keyword Tracker or Google Analytics?

You must do your research into how you can position yourself and also, how your competitors fair online. You need to be doing what they are, but better.

2. Be inspired to succeed

For your online business to succeed, you need to be 100% behind your brand and believe in the message it portrays. You will find that a lot of people who start a business, have a great idea however, once they begin to face problems, their enthusiasm they once had, has worn off and they are ready to quit. You need to ask yourself why you’re starting this business and the answer needs to be enough to motivate you to keep going regardless of the struggles along the way.

3. Don’t be afraid to ask for help

You won’t be able to start a successful business by yourself; you will need a good, solid team around you. Look at a possible partner and virtual assistant as a starting point. To be able to give your customer the great digital journey, you will need to be connected and dedicated to your brand, and the same goes for your colleagues.

There are a lot of business owners out there that are willing to share their expertise and knowledge with you. Look at attending seminars at trade shows to get more of a realistic insight into what it takes to run a successful online business.

4. Promote

Brand awareness is crucial when starting an online business. Social commerce allows your consumer to connect where they buy and buy where they connect. Take your brand to Social Media, hold competitions and most importantly, engage with your audience. There are so many tools out there that allow you to do this effectively so as said in point 1; do your research.

Using SEO (Search Engine Optimization) to generate a better ranking in Google is a great place to start. Have a read of this Google SEO Guide here if you need some help.

You should also look into becoming a merchant at an Affiliate company. Using affiliate marketing is a great way to generate sales and increase brand awareness – companies like M&S, PC World, New Look and even O2 and Sky use Affiliate Marketing. Have a look into either Affiliate Window or AffiliateFuture if you are considering going down this road.

Lastly, a goal of yours should be lead generation. When you run a competition or set up a monthly newsletter, you must capture each lead’s name, telephone number and most importantly, email address. You need to build a community and this is the best way to do it. Email marketing can be very powerful if done the right way. Try MailChimp if you’re not already contracted to another email campaign manager.

5. Don’t give up

No one said it would be easy starting an online business. Things may be going bad for you now, but that doesn’t mean things won’t improve for the future.

Leonardo Del Vecchio was an orphaned factory worker whose eyeglasses empire today makes Ray-Bans and Oakley’s. If he had given up, (which most of us would have) he would never have been a success, with an estimated worth of $10 billion.

J.K. Rowling lived on welfare before creating the Harry Potter franchise and is now worth around $1 Billion.

Roman Abramovich was an orphan who turned an expensive wedding gift into an oil empire and is now worth $12.1 Billion.

Moral of the story; never give up!

Are you ready to make your online business a success?

The Importance of Preparation Before Designing Your Online Store

While some business owners get lucky on their first try, most of us have found difficulty in building an online store without any preparation.

As the digital world has exceled over the last year, almost anyone can start an online business however, just having an idea isn’t enough; you need a strong development and design team behind you.

I will share with you some key points you need to address before even thinking about designing your online store.

1. Simple Content Management System

The key to an easy to use website is a simple but effective CMS. A lot of business owners spend a lot of money overcomplicating their management system when something as simple as WordPress would work fine as a starting point.

2. User-Friendly Interface

“In their attempts to add on all the bells and whistles, business owners can lose sight of a good user experience. Simple navigation, uncluttered design, and quick load time are key.” -Steph Auteri from Word Nerd Pro.

Steph is right in suggesting an uncluttered design. Simplicity is underrated in Business – everyone thinks it’s ‘all about the gear’ but as we all know, it turns out that really, they have no idea.

3. Style + Simplicity = Near Impossible

As said above, more is not better. Your development team should aim to marry style and simplicity to avoid stirring feelings of overwhelm or distraction. This, in itself, its near impossible as we get carried away with the excitement of something new. Spend some time looking at your brand and making sure the design element of your business is in touch with your brands identity.

4. Who’s Accountable for Mistakes?

As it is your business, are you willing to take the blame for your team’s mistakes? Without tight accountability to deadlines and deliverables, you may end up with a site and design that does not meet expectations. Make sure this does NOT happen by holding a weekly meeting with your team where you can discuss any issues and by keeping a document of who is in charge of each sector in your business – don’t take the fall for someone else’s error.

5. Mobile Compatibility

Offering your consumers a Multi-Channel experience is vital for your business’s success. By 2015 it is expected that around 50% of companies will generate web sales via social network presence and mobile applications. Start the move to mobile now before most of your competitors follow suit – have the upper hand in your business sector by turning your store mobile.

6. Critical Response

You will need to be able to provide proof of the digital journey you take your customer on when they buy on your website. By this I mean how a lead will be captured, what happens to that lead and, ultimately, how a sale is made (ideally automatically without direct team involvement). This allows you to scale your marketing and customer acquisition method.

7. Social Is Necessary

Social Commerce, along with Mobile is the future of Online Shopping. Every website should have a Social plug-in of some kind, whether it’s just a button or actually embedded into your store. You will also need to build an online presence in Social Media to see any improvement in traffic to your site.

8. Copywriting and Ownership of Assets

Having a business is not all about fun and games; you do have to get serious – especially when it involves any legal documentation. If you don’t specify outright that any logos or creative designs made are completely yours in an initial agreement, you could end up in a legal battle over which party actually owns the materials on your website. That is just one of a hundred examples of how you could face a serious backlash if you do not have the right legal documentation.

You should start a business website with a clear plan, just as you would a business. Don’t be caught out or afraid of taking action, remember, actions speak louder than words.

Are you ready to start your online business?

Three Ways To Show Your Thought Leadership

Are you passionate about a certain subject and have enough knowledge to teach other people? Take hold of your potential and become a leader in your selected field. Being a thought leader means sharing and building upon your knowledge and working on ideas and solutions. You want your expertise on display so make sure you let people know what you know. Here are three great ways to do just that.

1. Get Blogging

As a leading expert, it is imperative that you focus some of your time on improving your writing skills. There are so many skilled professionals utilising every form of writing, including; online blogging and book writing. It’s all well and good to refer to professionally written articles by other leading experts in your field, but to be an influential leader; you will need your own website.

Your own website or blog must feature your name prominently for you to be taken seriously as a leader in your field of work.

2. Build Your Own Team

A great way to show your leadership is to hand pick your own colleagues for your business. Picking the right people is crucial for your success and also as a scale for how serious you are about being an entrepreneur. The people you chose must have a strong work ethic and be able to challenge and educate you every day as well as support you in every decision you make. Businesses fall apart when teamwork is lost in the mist of poor problem solving and sub-standard management.

Take the experience you had with a previous mentor/business advisor and operate in a professional and well-informed manner.

3. Become a Speaker

One of the hardest things to do as a leading expert is to become a professional speaker. If you want to build a reputation as a thought leader, this means you need to become the face of your business – nothing screams help more than a faceless business. Look at Richard Branson or James Caan. Their success has been impressive and it’s partly down to their ability to be captivating when they talk at business events.

Do your research around the events/tradeshows that are applicable to your business and go from there. At first, you will be speaking for free, but it is crucial for building a reputation of expertise in your field that you utilise your opportunities.

I have spent over five years building my profile as a professional speak in Social Media and Digital Commerce. If you would like to come and hear my keynote seminar at The Great British Business Show on the 18^th of May at 2.45pm in Keynote Hall 1, please book your FREE ticket here.