When I started my first company back in 2010, I was focused on all the wrong things.

I count those wrong priorities as a valuable learning experience that I benefit from now, but looking back, that company would have been much more successful if I had…

spent less time on logos…
directory listings…
making things pretty…
getting better at my craft… (these are all good things, but misplaced priorities for me in the infancy of my business)

That company would have been much more successful if I had spent more time on just being present online where people could find me easier and I could connect with them about my services.

Today I want to help you out as you move towards goals in your business and are thinking about what to do to help you achieve those goals.

The thought process I want you to go through is how best can you get attention and get eyeballs on you and your business online… And the answer to that question depends on where you’re at and what your goals are.

If you’re a business owner – whether you own a new or established business – take 60 seconds to watch this video and consider how to weigh your priorities for your online presence:

How to Know Your Business is Ready for Social Media

Social Media as it is definined today is a relatively new business tool. It was just in the “figuring out” stages when I started my first company. Having a personal presence (and possibly a business presence) on social media is always a good idea.

✔️ It allows you to remind people in your network what you do.

✔️ It’s a quick and easy way to showcase your work with pictures and videos, as well as testimonials.

✔️ It’s great for “word of mouth” referrals.

How to Know if Your Business is Ready for a Website

I speak with a lot of business owners and my rule of thumb for knowing if they are ready for a website is two things:

✔️ Do they understand their “win-win” offer? Have they done enough work to have a “niche” – work they enjoy getting paid for that’s valuable to their customers?

✔️ Are they ready to scale, establish themselves as a leader, or grow their team?

If you answered yes to one of the questions above, then it’s time for a professional website.

Not a template.

Don’t DIY.

Your customers can tell, and you’ll miss out on that first click trust and stronger ability to charge what you’re worth and get more of the kind of work you want to do.

Then and only then, after you’ve established your offer and website should you do paid ads.

How to Know If Your Business is Ready for Paid Ads

Ads can be defined in a number of ways, such as paid “SEO” work, social media ads, paid directory listings, or something else.

The number one consideration before putting money into ads is where am I sending these leads?

If you’ve gone through the paces of actually doing paid work, figuring out your sweet spot of what you like to do that also pays well, then you could be a great candidate for accelerating your business with advertising.

But you have to know who to target.

And you have to send them to a website that will successfully build trust and convert them to paying customers.

That means if your website isn’t up to par, or your social media presence isn’t credible and trustworthy, then spending on ads is throwing money to the wind.

Your Turn – Take 60 Seconds to Grow Your Business

This is a very brief summary of the criteria I use to guide businesses in how to focus their marketing efforts.

Of course there are exceptions.

Of course there are many, many other marketing methods that can be used.

Social media, websites, and ads are just the broad strokes of online marketing that many business owners consider when working towards their goals.

So take 60 seconds now and evaluate your online presence… where are you at?

– Brand new, don’t have clients yet
– I have enough business under my belt to understand what I want to do, what kind of customers I love, and what kind of work is most profitable for my business
– Ready to lead my market, ready to scale, growing my team

Do you know what you need to do to move forward? Make a plan. Commit to taking action this week.

If you have a question or want to dive deeper and get some advice on moving your business forward, please book a call. We’d love to talk with you about your business: go.oncehub.com/SmartBee

We help business owners get their arms around their ideal offer, reimagine websites to connect them with their ideal clients, and ads to keep them scaling.