You’ve started your own business, which is quite an achievement. However, the challenge remains to promote it. A great way to ensure that your ongoing marketing efforts will be effective is by making your business look as professional as possible. Given all your hard work and talent, it would be a shame to unwittingly turn away potential clients or customers because of easily preventable appearance missteps. And, even if you’ve already launched, it’s never too late to polish the look of your business.
Here are five easy ways to help make your business look more professional.
Contents
1. Get your own domain name and set up a business email with it.
While your Gmail address may have suited your business needs so far, think bigger! As you gain more clients and/or customers, they’ll expect you to communicate with them about business matters via a professional business email account. This is especially the case when invoices or sensitive, secure data is involved. In fact, you may lose credibility – and trust – if you don’t have an email account that features your business’ domain name.
A custom email address and a unique domain name look more professional and are also another way to promote consistent branding when emailing with clients and/or customers. The more places you post your business email address, the more your name gets seen, recognized and remembered.
2. Build a company website.
Your business may have gotten away with not having its own website until now, but it’s worth rethinking this strategy. If you only have a social media business page or profile, keep in mind that not everyone is on social media. However, in today’s digitally connected world, anyone can easily find your business website online – and decide whether you are worth their time and money.
You don’t have to be a professional to design your own website, just be sure to include all relevant contact details on your Contact Page, specifically how to reach you, business hours, and descriptions of your product and/or services. The same goes for promoting your brand message on your About Page. And be sure to include high-quality and high-resolution images and even videos. Keep in mind that viewers remember 65% of visual images even three days after viewing them.
As we said earlier, not everyone is on social media. Therefore, you don’t have to be on every single platform. However, since social media is an effective way to reach a widespread audience(and drive viewers back to your website), it’s worth finding out which social networks your clients and/or customers are visiting the most and establishing a presence there.
But first, consider whether your business name is strong enough to attract the attention you’re looking for online. Does your name accurately reflect your brand message? Will it rank high on Google search results? To build a strong brand that will build awareness online, it’s important to choose the right business name that shows who you are, what you do best, and how you are different from the competition.
A business generator can help you come up with a memorable business name that accurately captures what your business is all about. This online tool can offer industry-specific business names that may increase your chances of ranking high on Google and being discovered online. If your business already has a name, such a tool can also help you figure out if it will gain traction online within your designated industry. If not, it will help you come up with a more fitting name that does.
4. Invoice professionally.
This may seem like a no-brainer, but it’s worth mentioning, especially given that an estimated 70% of freelancers have reported not getting paid by their clients. Obviously, you started your business to get paid for your products and/or services. Therefore, contracts and professional invoicing are necessary to protect and sustain your business interests. Today, there are many online invoicing platforms that make it easy and convenient to issue prompt, online invoices to clients.
5. Have – and Distribute – Business Cards.
Whether your business is online or offline, getting business cards is highly recommended. They are a handy tool to use to spread your business name and logo around to create brand awareness through word of mouth. Distribute them generously to get your business name and logo out there in the community.
The Bottom Line
Having your own business is an accomplishment in and of itself. In fact, while 80% of small businesses survive in the first year, only around half of them last for five years. To enhance your success, it’s crucial to make your business look more professional. Key in attracting and maintaining clients and/or customers is having a professional email address, website, and social media presence, including having the right business name. Professional invoicing and having business cards is also important. These are just some of the ways that lend credibility to your business and help you build a solid reputation, all of which contribute to looking more professional.
This is Rohan, I’m a Digital marketing Expert, Full time Content Writer and founder of BoxerTechnology.com I can help people across the world through my articles. I am sharing the latest stories from companies like Apple, Samsung, Google, and Amazon.