3 Reasons Why You Need a Solid Online Presence
*I originally published this post September 23, 2019. Since relaunching my site, I decided to update parts of it and republish.*
Okay, I get it. As an entrepreneur and small business owner, you’re pulled into every direction imaginable and here I am telling you to do more??!!! Hear me out. To free up your time, why not put in some of the leg work now to build a solid foundation so that your clients have resources to turn to every time a question comes up? How? Your clients now turn to your site or social media profiles for information instead of emailing you every question that comes up. Do you ever feel like you’re on repeat? Let’s eliminate some of that! Will it eliminate ALL customer emails? No, but that’s not the goal. The goal is to have answers for your customers when they want it instead of depending on you and your availability (to answer them). Not convinced? These are 3 reasons why you need a solid online presence.
Provide Better Customer Service
I don’t care who you are if you’re not online you’re not doing enough for your clients. It sounds harsh, but that’s the reality. As tech and social media become more and more a part of our daily lives it’s a tool that we can use to better serve our clients. I can’t tell you the number of times I haven’t ordered catering from a restaurant for an event because they didn’t have a website or I deemed a coach or facilitator as not credible because they didn’t have a legit website. It’s even worse if I go to their social and they don’t have anything for me to reference for testimonials (reviews) and samples of work. Especially now that many of us have switched over to working from home and are only connecting through tech, there’s no excuse. Our customers deserve more. Now, this doesn’t mean create a Facebook page, post a few articles and blog posts and then ignore it. No, check it daily. Set expectations and let your clients know when you’ll be offline and when you can be reached. Respond to any comments on your posts. The more accessible you are the more you build a relationship with your customers and the more they feel like they can trust you and will turn to you. Don’t ignore them!
Develop Brand Recognition (& Awareness)
I’m sure you’ve all heard the saying “content is king.” The idea behind this is that the more visible you are and the more content you have, the higher the likelihood that you stay top of mind for people. Even if they don’t need your services now (or maybe can’t afford it now)…stay relevant and consistent with your online presence because you never know when people want what you have to offer. Sometimes, you just need to be at the right place at the right time and the reality is that being online helps you be in more places at once.
Gain Credibility
I briefly touched on this already in the other two reasons, but it deserves a mention. As you build up a solid online presence you’re building up your credibility. By being someone that your clients can easily communicate with and rely on they start trusting you more and more. In turn, your credibility soars!
Shouldn’t we want to be better to serve our clients? Shouldn’t THAT be the goal? Who doesn’t want open, transparent, and clear communication? Who doesn’t want their brand to be recognized? Who doesn’t want credibility in their business? These are the 3 reasons why you need a solid online presence and it’s even more important now in 2021.
How can you improve your online presence? What are you struggling with? Let me know in the comments below!
