So you’re a business or life coach wanting to build a successful online presence and you are wondering where to start…
This can be confusing when you don’t know what the steps are or where to start in order to get the biggest boost in the shortest amount of time. Once you break the process down into a few areas it is relatively simple.
The first thing you will want to do is to set up your website and I highly recommend using WordPress and you don’t need to build a big fancy website – keep it simple. And, if someone tells you that they will charge you thousands of dollars to build a website, run for the hills!
The reason you want to use WordPress is that it is the best out there to boost your SEO ranking and there are some great plugins that will make this process easy. You’ll want to make sure you do some keyword research in your market to learn what words your ideal client is using to search for you and the easiest way to do this is to spy on your competitors to see what keywords they are using.
Here’s a quick list of what you”ll want to include on your website
- Home page
- Who I work with
- Services
- Testimonials
- Contact
- Blog
- A way for people to opt into your list
And don’t forget to hire a graphic designer to create a great looking banner. This is a good investment and will help to drive the rest of your branding. Some great places to get a header designed are 99 designs, fiverr or my personal favorite Delaine Ulmer over at Ultimate Designs.
Next on your list should be branding and this includes business cards, creating a tagline, your USP (unique selling proposition and your ideal client profile. Need help with this? Then contact Ann Bennett at Ann@Annbennettmarketing.com for a 1:1 branding session – she’s a genius at what she does and will help you get this done.
Once you have your website, and your branding completed, it is time to get started building your list. This is the foundation of every online business. Your list is not just the names in your shopping cart or autoresponder, Social Media is also a great place to connect and build relationships with your list.
When building your list the most important thing to remember is that all roads lead to your blog. So my suggestion here is to give away lots of free content, have multiple opt-in offers for high value content that your ideal client is looking for. Another great suggestion for quick list building is to do a free call.
Networking is equally important when building your list and becoming known in your marketplace. If you want to some great tips on how to be an expert at networking, head on over to Odette Laurie’s site at Business Women on Top http://businesswomenontop.com/products/ and purchase a downloadable copy of Is Your Networking NOTWorking MP3 – at $10 its a steal!
You will want to have something to sell to all of those people you are meeting through networking and visitors to your website. Start thinking about building a product funnel and have entry level products starting under $100 up to your high level coaching programs.
Other basic things you will also need:
- Online Credit Card processing – I recommend starting with paypal at first.
- A client intake process
- Bookkeeping and Taxes process
- A business license
