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Tag: Online Business

  • Entrepreneur | Why 2023 Will Be a Great Year to Start an Online Business

    Entrepreneur | Why 2023 Will Be a Great Year to Start an Online Business

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    One of the big stories of the pandemic, especially during the early uncertain days, was the rise of entrepreneurship. Millions of Americans started new businesses and side hustles, experimented with working from home and expressed an openness to new ways of creating economic value. Recent data from the U.S. Census Bureau on Business Formation Statistics found that the pandemic’s burst of entrepreneurship was no one-time fluke: Americans formed more than 5 million new businesses in 2022, representing a 44% increase in new business formations compared to 2019.

    It appears that the 2020s boom in entrepreneurship is here to stay — and that’s good news for the digital economy. Despite some recent gloomy headlines from Silicon Valley and Wall Street and some painful downturns in the stock market, there are strong signs that 2023 might be an even better year for entrepreneurs to start a business — especially in the online small business space.

    Let’s look at a few big reasons why 2023 will be a great year for digital entrepreneurs.

    Related: 4 Reasons Why an Online Business is the Best Investment You Will Ever Make

    Big Tech layoffs lead to new opportunities

    Just within the past few weeks, we’ve seen thousands of job cuts at Big Tech companies like Google, Meta, Microsoft and Amazon. Of course, these job losses are painful in the short run for the affected employees and their loved ones; no one likes to get laid off. But this temporary pain can lead to bigger opportunities for the future.

    Thousands of entrepreneurs with valuable, in-demand tech skills are now looking for their next gig. Some of them might want to start their own business, and some might band together to launch a new startup with their colleagues; some might want to consult, while others might want to invest in acquiring an existing online business.

    There’s going to be an unleashing of human capital and ingenuity that was concentrated at a few big companies; this is ultimately going to spark new growth in digital entrepreneurship. Lots of great companies get started during an economic downturn when customers are looking for new innovations and there’s less competition and noise in the market.

    I’m excited to see what new ideas and innovations emerge from today’s Big Tech layoffs. There are people getting laid off today who might become the CEOs of the next decade’s biggest success stories.

    Related: Laid-Off From Your Big Tech Job? It Could Be The Ideal Time to Pursue Entrepreneurship.

    Strong opportunities for “Main Street” online businesses

    Publicly traded Big Tech companies have attracted lots of hype and massive investment in the past few years, but the digital economy is not just about these large public firms. There is a very large underrated area of the digital economy that we call “Main Street” — sub $10MM revenue businesses including blogs, apps and ecommerce stores.

    There are lots of ways for entrepreneurs to make real money with online businesses, and it can often be done with limited upfront investment and minimal overhead costs, such as starting a Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) business. Starting a content-based website or blog can help digital entrepreneurs serve a unique niche and build a loyal audience of fans, followers, and repeat customers. Mobile apps continue to be the center of people’s everyday lives — and there are big opportunities for helpful, profitable mobile apps that can provide a useful service.

    The next wave of innovation in the digital economy is going to come from small online businesses. These are often generating steady revenue and offer big upside potential for growth. Look for more entrepreneurs to explore the Main Street of the digital economy.

    Freedoms of being your own boss

    The continuing boom in new business formations, worker shortages in many industries and the rise of remote work are all strong signs that entrepreneurs are fed up with the traditional corporate workday grind. They want to create value on their own terms, be productive on their own schedule, enjoy better work-life balance and unlock opportunities for themselves in new ways.

    Online entrepreneurship can be a huge force in this larger transformation of how people work and live. When you own a digital small business or other digital assets, you can work from anywhere in the world. You don’t have to punch a clock or report to a manager or be surveilled by an employer. You don’t have to ask permission to go on vacation. You can explore new business ideas, try new things, launch new products and discover new markets without the bureaucracy and limitations of a traditional employer.

    The pandemic caused millions of people to reassess what they want out of life, where they live and how they work. The freedom and flexibility of digital business ownership can be a good fit for many new entrepreneurs.

    Related: 5 Steps to Start an Online Business and Living a Much Better Life

    High-growth online businesses categories

    Digital small businesses offer many flexible models to help entrepreneurs capitalize on the newest trends and consumer lifestyle shifts. No matter what customers are demanding now, digital small businesses are adaptable and well-positioned to deliver it. A few high-growth online business categories that I’m hearing about from digital entrepreneurs right now include fitness, travel, health, finance and pets.

    Think about how consumer behavior has changed in the past few years. People want to focus on their health and wellness; they want to exercise and feel better; they want to take vacations; they want to improve their financial situation; and they want to pamper their pets.

    All of these consumer needs are well-suited to online business ownership. There are many creative ways to build relationships with customers in these categories with valuable products, advice and professional services.

    Acquiring existing businesses as an investment

    2022 was a terrible year for the stock market and lots of investors got burned by meme stocks and overhyped alternative asset categories. What if there was a better way? Investing in online businesses by buying an existing website or other small business can be a great way to invest, and these digital small businesses never got overhyped or overvalued. In fact, some digital small businesses are delivering 30% or more annualized returns.

    Acquiring an existing business is often faster, easier and lower risk than starting an original business, and acquiring a business gives you the reassurance of knowing that this business is generating real revenues and has a base of users, customers and web traffic to build upon. Look for more investors — individual entrepreneurs and larger aggregators and institutional investors — to buy into online small businesses as an investment category in 2023.

    Bottom line: Despite some gloomy headlines from Wall Street and short-term pain for Big Tech, the future is bright for the digital economy. One of the biggest growth areas in tech for 2023 will be on “Digital Main Street,” in small online businesses like mobile apps, SaaS solutions, ecommerce stores, blogs, content-based websites and other digital assets. Small online businesses can spark big growth and open up a new era of digital entrepreneurship.

    Blake Hutchison

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  • 5 Overlooked Sources of Income for Extra Cash

    5 Overlooked Sources of Income for Extra Cash

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Every business will, at some point, experience stagnant sales. When this happens, it may seem like the only way to increase sales is to take drastic measures requiring more time and energy. If you’re a small business trying to get to one million or maybe even five or ten million, ideally, you should have a strategy to reach those numbers. This is how large companies do it. They set sales goals and plan the exact roadmap from point A to point B.

    Several years ago, when I set out to reach my first million in annual revenue, the way I approached business growth was like this: If I could make $100 per day, what would it take to get to $150 per day? So, the approach was to try and make a little more money over time gradually. But this is not always easy because, as I mentioned earlier, many entrepreneurs feel like they’ve reached their revenue potential. Sometimes, finding creative ways to make more money can take time and effort.

    Before separating from the Air Force, my online business averaged about $300 daily, selling digital products. Later, I began selling exercise equipment and sporting goods. But at some point, I wanted to average $500 per day. I successfully reached that, then tried to grow the business to $1,000 daily. I achieved that, then felt it was possible to make $2,000 daily. Surprisingly, I did that. Ultimately, the business made it to an average of $3,000 daily, approximately one million annually.

    How did I do it? I found new leads. In addition to my website, there were five sources of revenue that had a significant impact on my business.

    1. Craigslist

    The first hidden source of cash was Craigslist. It started when I would list used or returned items still in good shape. I had so many leads from the website that I eventually listed just about anything popular: new and used products. The cool thing about Craigslist is that any classified listing also serves as an advertisement. I included the company name, physical address and phone number in the footer of all ads. My business saw the entire spectrum of customers, from high school coaches to law enforcement officers. New customers also meant new referrals. Craigslist was an invaluable source of revenue.

    Related: Marketing Your Business On Craigslist

    2. OfferUp

    The second overlooked source of income was OfferUp, another classified ad marketplace for new and used goods. Ironically, one of my Craigslist customers suggested I try OfferUp. At the time, it was a newer mobile app, and I was surprised I had not heard about it.

    As a test, I listed a few items and received several inquiries on the same day. OfferUp had a few features that gave it an edge over its competition by facilitating payments and nationwide shipping. This was a bonus because it made my products nationally accessible instead of just local. The app was a high-quality lead generator and a recurring source of revenue for my business.

    3. Facebook Marketplace

    The third hidden source of income was Facebook Marketplace. Existing Facebook users can post just about anything for sale and have it shown to a broad audience. I estimate that there were no less than ten daily inquiries for a given item. As a dealer with an endless supply, I would sell the same item repeatedly. Facebook Marketplace was an excellent source of supplemental income.

    Related: How to Make Social Media Marketing Effective for Your Brand

    4. Letgo

    The fourth source of income that I unearthed was Letgo. Whenever you can make money without spending any, it’s always a plus. While less of a revenue generator than the resources above, Letgo served as a powerful sales generator. For most sellers, it is free to list an item for sale on the app.

    5. Etsy

    The fifth and final hidden source of income was Etsy. The website features handmade, vintage and craft supplies sold by individual sellers. You will not find classified ads on Etsy because they only sell new products. Although, new products are sometimes made from used or recycled materials.

    I discovered that certain items already in inventory could be repurposed and sold on the platform. Etsy’s business model is similar to other sites that take commissions once an item sells. Because of the sheer volume of users, I would have to say that Etsy was always a source of consistent, predictable revenue.

    Before increasing my presence on these five platforms, I sold products exclusively online via my main website. I also had a warehouse location for distribution, but it was not always open to the public. At some point, I adjusted and opened a small showroom where customers could retrieve will-call items. When business was slow, I tried posting classified ads. When ad respondents arrived to pay for an item, they almost always purchased additional items. This is where I saw an opportunity.

    Related: 5-Minute Mentor: How Do I Get My Products In Front of Customers Online?

    Eventually, I was able to open a 4,000-square-foot retail store that was highly successful. But it all started with a simple challenge: solve the problem of stagnant sales. My business experienced dramatic levels of growth when I took proactive steps to find new leads. In the end, getting more eyes on my products was the key to success. I did this by taking advantage of classified ad websites, mobile apps and other resources that ultimately served as free advertisements for my business. It was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made because it exposed my products to new customers, translating into more sales.

    Justin Leonard

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  • How To Improve Your SEO Content

    How To Improve Your SEO Content

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    It seems that as your business grows, so does your website. Of course, this growth is generally a good sign for your company and bottom line. But as your site admins do their best to keep pace, and those blogs, contact forms and product landing pages start to pile up, things can get messy.

    With hundreds or more pages to manage — and constantly changing algorithms and content trends to contend with — SEO issues can mount up. From dead links and oversized images to the gradual loss of content optimization, such problems often combine to slow loading speeds and hurt user experience. Ultimately, this can bump up bounce rates and make it much harder to turn prospects into buyers.

    If your website has grown out of control, an SEO content cleanup may be the answer. Done carefully, a thorough step-by-step cleanup can help bring order to the chaos, improve site speeds, and return your website to its former glory, complete with the UX and performance needed to magnetize your brand and attract more customers.

    Following a few basic cleanup steps can help get your website running in the right direction:

    Related: Essential Tips to Write Appealing Website Content

    Declutter your website structure

    How your site structure is organized matters a lot when it comes to improving your ranking in Google and optimizing customer engagement with your brand. By removing needless clutter and cleaning up critical structural elements, you can provide an almost immediate boost to site appearance and navigation, making it easier for visitors to find what they’re after while strengthening customer sentiment and connections that feed your bottom line.

    Cleaning up the site structure starts with simplifying the site menu. Because the menu is typically the first element customers engage with, keeping it focused and as minimal as possible is essential. With clear, easy-to-understand options at the top, visitors have a simplified reference guide to navigate and find exactly what they’re searching for.

    Once your menu is re-aligned, you can dive deep into your content. Depending on how much content your site has, this can seem like a Herculean effort, at least at first. But taking time to organize your blogs and product pages into categories, and analyzing each for relevance and search performance, can make the process much more manageable.

    When things are sorted, and page importance is organized, ranked and understood, you can better decide which posts to delete, which to keep and which can be tweaked and optimized for SEO.

    Separating the effective from the ineffective allows you to eliminate content redundancies while maximizing the reach and impact of working pieces. It also removes needless obstacles and helps refine and optimize user experience — a potential boon to site traffic and content KPIs.

    Related: How to Create a Startup Website That Delivers

    Find and fix those broken links

    Broken hyperlinks in blogs and web pages don’t just hurt user experience. They can also drag down site authority and, ultimately, your SEO. And as content begins to pile up, so does the number of 404 links cluttering up your website and putting your online brand in a bind.

    Broken links happen for various reasons, from incorrectly entered links and restricted page access to links and websites getting deleted after the text was linked up. Fortunately, finding and fixing these digital deadends is an easy way to delete dead weight and help restore search ranking and performance.

    A free tool like the Crawl Errors feature in Google Search Console or the Broken Link Checker plugin in WordPress can help identify 404 links across your site. Once you know where they are, fixing these links can be done in several ways: repairing the wrongly-entered link, replacing links that still exist but have since been changed or removing the links altogether.

    If the broken link goes to a page on your site (such as the Contact page) but appears in multiple places across your site, creating a redirect can also be an effective way to fix the problem, at least temporarily.

    Related: How To Maximize the Number of Linkable Assets on Your Website

    Give images the SEO treatment

    Great images bring an appealing visual element that attracts visitors and adds life to your content. When relevant and displayed correctly, high-quality images help boost clicks and user engagement rates and provide a burst of SEO energy that can lift your blogs and product pages to the top of search results.

    Over time, however, those images can often pile up, creating a bulky, unoptimized mess that reduces page load speeds and damages user experience. Fortunately, a thorough SEO cleanup can help tidy things up and maximize each photo’s potential across your website.

    Image compression offers an excellent place to start. Compressing images to more manageable file sizes helps reduce page load speeds, shaving seconds off the process while allowing visitors faster access to your blogs and landing pages. Faster page loads help reduce bounce rates and improve customer interactions, ensuring potential buyers stay put and engage with your brand for longer periods.

    Removing and replacing irrelevant and poor-quality images can also improve image SEO. By locating unnecessary and ineffective space fillers out of posts and inserting better, more attractive images, you create a more complementary mix of text and imagery that keeps more eyes glued to your content.

    Updating image alt text across your site can also provide a valuable SEO boost. Doing so allows you to incorporate focus keywords into each page and sharpen image SEO for essential topics and search queries.

    Adam Petrilli

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  • 5 Ways to Build Trust and Reliability

    5 Ways to Build Trust and Reliability

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Any entrepreneur knows that a critical aspect of growing one’s business and elevating your brand is to step up as a thought leader in your field. For instance, we’ve all marveled at the CEO who shares words of wisdom on LinkedIn or the icon names behind our favorite newsletters and podcasts. But when it comes time to build your credibility and find your audience, it may seem impossible to know where to start. Social media is crowded these days — how does anyone stand out from the crowd?

    Luckily, there are ways to ensure your voice is heard and stands out from the fray. Becoming a thought leader takes dedication and hard work, but it can be done with the right strategy and an honest approach. Read on for five crucial tips on becoming a go-to voice in your field.

    Related: 5 Tips for Using LinkedIn to Become a Bonafide Thought Leader

    Step 1: Develop your own voice

    Before beginning any other aspect of becoming a thought leader, it’s crucial to define your own voice. Audiences these days are hyper-aware of inauthenticity and quickly pick up on false optimism or incorrect knowledge. Whether you’re speaking on past failures, insecurities, or weaknesses, remember to stay true to yourself and your expertise when sharing your insights.

    Similarly, the only way you can really stand out from the crowd is by being yourself! From your sense of humor to your creative vision, leaning into your unique point of view will differentiate you from others and develop engaged, loyal followers. Don’t try to emulate others you already see in the field. Originality always wins out.

    Related: How to Showcase Your Expertise and Become a Thought Leader

    Step 2: Use each platform thoughtfully

    Once you know your point of view, figure out how to leverage your learnings and insights across the different social platforms. Today’s vast array of social platforms have very different uses and audiences, so you’ll want to share your thoughts in a variety of ways across each while remaining true to your overall message.

    For instance, LinkedIn is primarily text-based, with room for occasional video and image posts. It’s also a platform designed to engage and encourage others, so lean into the community aspect.

    Meanwhile, video-first platforms like TikTok and Instagram have entirely different best practices; you may want to lean into trending sounds and memes or share stories from your POV in short clips. And if you post on Twitter, you’ll want to encapsulate your message in brief, text-only posts. Each platform offers significant benefits when used correctly, so research (and use) them before posting, and don’t try a one-size fits all strategy.

    Related: 10 Tips to Developing Your Personal Brand Through Thought Leadership

    Step 3: Listen to others

    The phrase “thought leader” makes it seem like you’ll always be the one leading the conversation, but remember that you need to listen to others, too! An essential part of remaining an authority in your field is constantly seeking knowledge and growing. From reading books and articles to respecting diverse voices, make room in your life to expand your mind so that you can remain at the top of your game.

    Another essential element of listening is never to pretend to hold authority or knowledge when you don’t have it. If a subject isn’t in your wheelhouse, that’s okay! Your audience will respect you more if you can acknowledge your information gaps, especially if you can take constructive criticism whenever thrown your way.

    Related: 50 Strategies for Becoming a Thought Leader in Your Field

    Step 4: Analyze what’s working

    When building your audience and brand, you’ll want to take a step back regularly and see what resonates with people. Are certain parts of your message getting positive feedback more than others? Are there specific questions that crop up again and again?

    Be sure to incorporate any statistics and audience feedback into your posting schedule so you’re not simply speaking into a void. Your audience wants to feel that they’re having a two-way discussion, so distilling your message to what they want to learn is key to an engaged, long-term audience relationship.

    Related: 4 Proactive Habits to Build the Career You Want

    Step 5: Get out into the real world

    While social media, blogs and podcasts are crucial for thought leadership in today’s modern age, don’t forget to get out from behind your computer screen from time to time. Real-life conversations can significantly benefit your thought leadership growth and demonstrate to online audiences that you genuinely care about your industry.

    Attend conferences and panels in your field and take the opportunity to network with others. Even simple coffee dates are a great way to regularly make time for real-life discussions. While it may seem easy to develop your brand online, much of being an entrepreneur still rely on a face-to-face conversation — so don’t forget to carve out time to make those real-life connections.

    Adam Petrilli

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  • 3 Ways to Build an Online Presence With Social Media

    3 Ways to Build an Online Presence With Social Media

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    The internet has changed business almost beyond recognition. Gone are the days when business cards, a listing in the yellow pages and well-considered display advertising were needed to establish a presence with potential customers. In the 21st century, digital marketing has replaced many traditional marketing activities. Social media networks are among the most effective channels for establishing an online presence.

    The importance of social media for your company’s online presence

    Since the advent of the world wide web in the 1990s, having an online presence has become all but a requirement for successful businesses. Customers look for products and services online, and many have become accustomed to online shopping. Granted, there may be some local businesses that manage to attract customers by word-of-mouth only, but most companies rely on online connections.

    For the first decade and a half of the internet’s existence for the public, building an online presence relied on creating a company website and perhaps using email marketing. Since then, digital marketing has grown and diversified, with social media networks becoming one of the most important marketing tools. Being visible on social media allows brands to connect directly to consumers and establish trust between a business and its potential customers.

    In addition, leading social media networks offer marketing tools explicitly designed to help brands connect to their audiences. By 2021, more than 90% of U.S. businesses with more than 100 employees were using these tools for social media marketing. However, your brand can be small to benefit from an online presence. Most social media marketing tools will scale up or down to accommodate companies of all sizes.

    Related: How to Make Social Media Marketing Effective for Your Brand

    Building a successful online presence

    Building a successful, effective online presence on social media requires a strategic approach [perhaps link to the previous article here]. Before going into detail, it is worth defining what we mean by social media presence. The term refers to a brand’s social media visibility and its audience connections.

    Three main pillars to help establish this presence are branding, public relations (PR) and digital marketing. For all three, a strategic, well-planned approach delivers the best results. Simply adding a post now and then is not enough to establish a recognizable presence or build lasting connections with your target audiences.

    Related: Why Effective Content Marketing Will Transform Your Social Media

    1. Branding for social media presence

    By the time they start building their online presence, most businesses have created a brand identity and developed a strategy for branding. If that is the case for your business, your brand must remain recognizable on social media.

    The company’s brand voice and aesthetic should be easily identifiable across all digital and analog marketing channels. In practice, that means a social media user scrolling through their feed should be able to recognize your posts without seeing your brand logo or your account handle.

    Aligning brand messages between all channels helps reinforce and strengthen them. Alignment also helps build trust and credibility with potential consumers. On the other hand, if your brand voice, messages and visual presentation differ between outlets, the differences will create confusion. They dilute the brand’s messaging and damage the credibility you are trying to build online.

    2. Public relations (PR)

    Strategic PR is another channel brands can use to engage their audiences. Public relations has traditionally relied on media outlets to disseminate brand messages.

    However, by using social media, brands can reach audiences — including journalists — directly and start a conversation. If the conversation is relevant to other audiences, social media platforms make sharing content easy and increase its reach. As a result, new audiences become aware of the brand, leading to a greater social media presence.

    Another way of leveraging PR to increase a brand’s online presence is by contributing to other media outlets as an expert guest or regular contributor and linking to your brand’s social media channels.

    Related: What’s Hot and What’s Not in Public Relations for 2023

    3. Using digital marketing to increase your social media presence

    Brands with a successful social network presence utilize all their digital marketing channels to build that presence. These synergies between marketing activities do not happen automatically. They must be written into your digital marketing and social media marketing strategy.

    In practice, your marketing and brand team must actively pursue opportunities to highlight your social media presence and drive engagement. Here is an example: if your brand has been using email marketing successfully to connect to consumers, encourage readers to connect to you on social media. They benefit by establishing a more immediate and direct connection if they need support — your brand benefits by being able to connect more frequently.

    Other digital marketing channels like blogs can elaborate on a topic introduced on social media and encourage readers to join your brand’s community on a specific channel. The key to using other digital marketing channels to support your social network presence is to create connections between your brand’s channels.

    Related: How to Build on Your Digital Marketing Momentum in 2023

    Consistency matters

    Building a successful online presence through social media networks requires a consistent and strategic approach. Utilizing existing digital marketing channels and ensuring close alignment with the company’s overall branding supports a growing social media presence. In addition, strategic PR activities can also increase a brand’s social media presence across all its channels. Delivering consistent, relevant content that aligns with overall brand objectives is the key to growing and maintaining an engaged social network audience.

    Jessica Wong

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  • How Retailers Can Win In a Post-Pandemic World

    How Retailers Can Win In a Post-Pandemic World

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    It has been an unprecedented few years for brick-and-mortar retailers, but in 2022, physical stores have started to bounce back. In October, nationwide foot traffic to shopping centers was up more than 18% from two years ago. Meanwhile, 54% of consumers prefer brick-and-mortar retail to any other channel, suggesting that people still love going to physical stores.

    There are bright spots for retailers, but it is important to note that while in-store shopping has surged, the industry has evolved since the pre-pandemic era. Recent consumer habits and preferences that emerged during the pandemic appear to be here to stay.

    Let’s explore these in more detail.

    Related: As Inflation Soars, Consumers Want More Rewards and Shopping Incentives. Here’s How to Give Them What They Want

    A lot of retail journeys start online but end in store

    According to Google, searches for “open now near me” have increased 400% Year-over-Year, which suggests that even those who love shopping offline rely on digital tools to point them in the right direction.

    That’s why it is essential to have a solid online presence in search engines and to improve your business’ discoverability by optimizing your listings in business directories and review platforms. To fully leverage this opportunity, you should ensure your business details are complete, add photos of your location and update your details when needed.

    Social platforms help drive offline traffic

    Social platforms like TikTok and Reels for Instagram and Facebook boomed during the pandemic and continue to be popular today. This is good news for retailers because you can leverage these platforms to drive brand awareness and foot traffic.

    Social apps and platforms are excellent product discovery tools — even for physical retailers, as 81% of shoppers have made an in-store purchase after seeing a product on social media. To stay relevant, you need to meet shoppers where they are, and for many of them, that means being on TikTok, Instagram and YouTube.

    Related: Why Social Media Platforms Are Adopting Ecommerce as a Saving Grace

    Product and order fulfillment expectations are higher than ever

    The rise of ecommerce, “Buy Online, Pay in Store” (BOPIS), and same-day delivery has increased shopper expectations regarding when and how they get their orders. Research and Markets forecast the BOPIS market will reach $703.18 billion by 2027 — representing a 19.3% compounded annual growth rate over six years.

    In-store (and curbside) pickup is here to stay; if you haven’t done so, it’s high time to implement these initiatives.

    That said, it is essential to remember that the success of your order fulfillment efforts will also depend on how well you forecast and manage inventory. Customers have little patience for “out-of-stocks,” as 50% of consumers report that they will switch products, brands or retailers when faced with shortages.

    This is why it is critical to stay on top of stock management. Invest in robust inventory and reporting tools that enable you to identify trends and make smarter ordering decisions.

    Related: The Future of Online Shopping Is ‘Buy Now, Pay Later’

    It’s more challenging to gain true customer loyalty

    The pandemic shook brand loyalty, and shoppers switched brands at an unprecedented rate. On average, US shoppers belong to 17 loyalty programs; but engagement is low, and less than 50% are active loyalty memberships.

    Winning the loyalty game is a challenge, but not an impossible one. The key to improving shopper loyalty is ensuring your brand aligns with your customer’s needs and values.

    Accomplishing that starts with obtaining the right customer insights. Knowing where your customers are from, why they buy from you and what their shopping preferences will enable you to make moves that are relevant to them.

    Omnichannel is now table stakes

    It is no longer enough to have a presence on different channels (e.g., online, in-store, social). You must seamlessly connect these channels to win over and fulfill today’s shopper’s needs, wherever they are.

    To do that, you need a solid commerce platform with omnichannel capabilities. Investing in a point-of-sale solution with built-in ecommerce functionality enables you to sell and manage multiple channels from one system.

    Another option is to choose a retail management platform that can integrate with other solutions. If you already have an existing POS system, set your sights on ecommerce platforms that can integrate with your current tools. Whichever route you take, see that sales, orders and inventory data flow smoothly from one channel to the next.

    The current retail landscape presents numerous challenges; the good news is there are plenty of opportunities for savvy retailers to thrive. Equipping yourself with the correct data and tools will put you in the best position to compete — now and in the future.

    Ana Wight

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  • 9 Ways To Grow Your Small Business Through Social Media Marketing

    9 Ways To Grow Your Small Business Through Social Media Marketing

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Small businesses have increasingly relied on social media marketing to reach customers, create brand awareness and drive sales over the past decade. Whether you’re just starting or have been in business for years, social media marketing can help your small business reach its full potential. You don’t need to invest thousands of dollars in marketing to grow your customer base and succeed with social media marketing — you need to use it strategically and effectively. To help you grow your small business through social media marketing, we’ve put together this list of nine tips you can use in your next campaign.

    Related: 5 Components Your Content Marketing Strategy Needs

    1. Decide which platform is best for your business

    Social media is a great place to start if you’re thinking about branching out and exploring new marketing avenues. Instagram is an excellent way for businesses with visual products (like clothing or jewelry) to showcase their work. Twitter can be a powerful tool for building relationships and customer service. Facebook is the most popular platform on the web, so it’s worth experimenting with. Not only can you create a Facebook page for your company and post updates, but you can also build a community around it by liking pages related to your work. This will bring in new followers who are interested in your industry.

    2. Develop a social media calendar

    Start by researching your competition on all the major social media platforms. Look for what they’re doing, how often they post and what their posts look like. By reviewing their work, you’ll be able to determine if you want to emulate them or branch out on your own. Once you’ve found a strategy that works for you, create an editorial calendar with specific day-to-day tasks and goals outlined. You should be updating your social channels throughout the week rather than just once per week. Posting more often keeps people interested and leads them back to your site.

    3. Recognize when it’s time to pivot

    You might have successfully used a certain method or strategy in the past, but there may come a time when it no longer works or becomes ineffective. If this happens, don’t be afraid to switch gears and try something new that might work better for your company today.

    Related: When to Pivot Your Business — and When You Should Just Quit

    4. Stay up-to-date on trends

    One of the best things you can do for your business is to stay in tune with what’s happening in the digital world. Read blogs, magazines, books and publications about new technologies and innovations that will be relevant to your industry. Join groups, attend events and network with others working in the field so that you can stay current on which consumers are using new channels.

    5. Take advantage of live video

    Live video is a great way to engage with customers, respond quickly and provide a behind-the-scenes look at what goes on in your office. It’s also a great way to offer quick tutorials, or an inside peek at the day-to-day workings of your company. If you’re struggling with content ideas, try using live video as a time filler while you think of something else to say.

    Related: Why More Brands Are Going Live With Their Videos (and Why You Should, Too)

    6. Host a contest or giveaway

    Create a contest or giveaway that is centered around your product or service. Make it simple and easy for people to enter by using a form on your website. You can run this contest or giveaway on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc. If you are giving away a physical prize like a t-shirt or mug, ensure the shipping is included in the item’s price. Consider setting up a timeline with milestones so customers can see how they’re progressing through the different levels of the competition. Let them know how many more entries they need to get before they reach their next milestone. For example, when a customer has five entries, tell them they need ten more to win a shirt!

    7. Collaborate with other businesses or influencers

    Collaborating with other companies or influencers can be a great way to leverage one another’s following and increase exposure for both parties. The key is finding a pairing that makes sense and is relevant to the industry. For example, if you have a beauty salon, partnering with a hairstylist would make more sense than partnering with an accountant. Not only are they in different industries, but they also don’t target the exact demographics of people. Other companies that may pair well with yours include those in similar fields, such as trade show vendors, suppliers and manufacturers.

    Related: 5 Steps to Creating a Content Marketing Strategy That Actually Works

    8. Take advantage of paid advertising

    Social media advertising is a cost-effective way to drive traffic and increase conversions on your website. Facebook ads, Twitter ads and Instagram ads are all great ways of reaching an audience that might not otherwise come across your content. Targeting based on location, interests, demographics and more allows you to reach the people most likely interested in your offer! If you’re using Facebook or Twitter ads, make sure you set up conversion tracking to see which campaigns are working best for your goals. You can use tools like Google Analytics or Universal Analytics if you’re using Instagram ads to track how many users visit your site after clicking on an ad.

    9. Make sure you include strong calls-to-action

    One of the best things about social media marketing is that it allows us to create one call-to-action per post, as opposed to one call-to-action per page (like we would do on our site). It’s essential that you put yourself in the shoes of someone scrolling through their feed — how does this post look from their perspective?

    In conclusion, the most important thing to remember about any business is that it’s a living, breathing entity. One of the best ways to keep your company alive is by using social media as a tool for marketing. Posting on Facebook and Twitter can help you stay visible and fresh in the minds of potential clients. You should also use other platforms such as YouTube, LinkedIn or Google+ if they fit your company’s needs.

    Murali Nethi

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  • Want to Build Trust in Your Business? It All Starts Online

    Want to Build Trust in Your Business? It All Starts Online

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Successful entrepreneurs know that consumer trust in a brand is critical to standing out from the competition. Trust is what keeps customers returning to your business time and again. It is also instrumental in generating new and repeated sales. But “trust” can seem hard to quantify. What exactly is it, and how do you build it?

    Regarding commerce, trust is the customer’s feeling that your brand fulfills its promises. Does your product live up to expectations? And if something goes wrong, will your brand respond quickly to put things right?

    These days, a quick Google search is often all that’s needed to score a brand’s trustworthiness. From customer service ratings to cohesive social media and good PR, a solid online reputation is vital in earning the trust of existing and new customers.

    Related: Is Trust or Innovation More Important for a Brand in 2021?

    Focus on your website and social media

    When building trust online, one of the first places to focus on is each area in your immediate control. These include primary platforms like your website or social media channels. Such platforms are powerful tools for your brand, allowing you to shape your messaging to be cohesive and positive. It’s crucial to keep your brand’s aesthetic and core mission statement the same across all owned platforms, as these are often the first sites consumers seek out information on your product or services.

    Be sure to post regularly on social media channels. Also, consider adding a blog section to your website and share detailed brand updates on that page whenever possible. This allows you to humanize your brand by sharing important brand insights and providing customers with a glimpse into company culture, fun behind-the-scenes developments, and other events that help strengthen bonds with your business.

    Related: How to Create Authentic Relationships and Build Customer Trust

    Build up good press

    Outside of the resources under your control, consider investing in secondary sources to reinforce your reputation. From photography to press releases, interviews with local journalists and thought-leadership articles, any online media showcasing your brand helps populate search results while putting your product in a positive light. And the more recent these pieces are, the higher they will likely show on search results pages, providing higher visibility and better opportunities to engage customers.

    Beyond traditional “press,” like interviews and photoshoots, consider partnering with influencers on social media. Such partnerships can provide an authentic seal of approval from another trusted online and highlight your brand value to new customers. Whether on Facebook, Instagram or TikTok, influencer campaigns offer an excellent opportunity to leverage audiences in any market.

    Related: 4 Things to Know About Online Reviews (and Why You Can’t Afford to Ignore Them)

    Provide excellent customer service

    As mentioned earlier, an essential aspect of building customer trust is being responsive to questions and concerns. Be sure to give customers various options for reaching your business, such as phone numbers, emails, a website portal, social channels and more. List accurate contact info everywhere, from your website to your social media.

    It may also help to have social media moderators to answer direct messages and public comments, as so many online consumers now interact solely with brands through social media.

    And while you can’t hide potential negative reviews, you can still demonstrate that you care about customers by responding to issues on various review sites politely and quickly. Even a simple response shows you’re listening to concerns and can go a long way toward easing customer stress and worry!

    You can also create a customer review section on your website to highlight positive online feedback. Many sites offer this capability, making showcasing and promoting glowing reviews easy.

    Related: How to Build Rapport With Customers Online

    Invest in SEO management

    When you’ve done the above work, you want to ensure your existing and prospective customers see it. Unfortunately, it’s easy for a brand’s online footprint to get buried in a sea of search results. This is where search engine optimization (SEO) comes in.

    An experienced SEO team will often supplement SEO and put paid spend campaigns behind your marketing efforts, helping move your brand messaging to the top of search pages. SEO can be a technical, even highly challenging field and is often something SMBs and smaller brands don’t have the expertise or time to tackle most effectively. Though hiring an outside firm to assist with SEO comes with extra costs, the payoff in trust and online authority can often be significant.

    Investment in SEO marketing not only showcases the right brand messaging but also helps your business stand apart from local competitors. After all, your target audience needs to know if you’re doing the work on your website and social media, generating positive press, and investing in excellent customer service.

    Adam Petrilli

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  • The Critical Role of System Integration In Digital Transformation

    The Critical Role of System Integration In Digital Transformation

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    In recent years, businesses of all sizes have increasingly relied on digital tools and technologies. There has been a rapid increase in adopting the newest trends to enhance productivity and efficiency and improve processes and outputs.

    In their quest to go digital, many organizations are forced to give up their old ways and welcome contemporary processes and systems with open arms. Some traditions are hard to let go of. Thus, business owners and employees alike might be apprehensive of the changes that come with digital transformation.

    How can your business make sure to switch it up without losing existing data, systems, processes, techniques or people? An integrated system will address all your troubles and concerns.

    What system integration means

    Every business, at any point in time, often has a combination of manual and automated online and offline systems to manage each aspect of its operation. To reap maximal benefits from global technological advancements, businesses must fully embrace the digital age. However, going digital can take time.

    Many organizations that started early on took each process or department through digitalization. Others wanted to undergo digital transformation in one go — a tiresome, high-risk and expensive process. To take a cautious, calculated approach to digital transformation, there is one integral part of the process you cannot ignore — system integration.

    System integration refers to collecting the various separate modules, processes and data systems and having them work in a unified manner. It enables organizations to streamline operations, strengthen collaboration between departments, and improve operational efficiency. This process not only facilitates the introduction of new IT systems to existing digital environments but can also help combine modern systems with dated legacy ones.

    Related: Why You Should Speed Up Your Digital Transformation During the Crisis

    The benefits of system integration

    In recent years, the global system integration market has been growing at impressive rates, and Grandview Research predicts an upward trend for the next few years. Let us explore why system integration is vital to the digital transformation journey and how it can benefit your business.

    1. Lower costs

    Installing and maintaining multiple disparate subsystems can be expensive. The costs can quickly rack up to staggering amounts over the years. With an integrated modern system, your organization will no longer have to host and manage multiple systems and their individual data stores. A consolidated system will reduce redundancy and repetition and allow valuable resources to be reallocated toward more critical tasks or areas of operation.

    Additionally, without a proper system integration strategy, the thought of undergoing digital transformation can be daunting. Introducing a highly complex state-of-the-art digital system to be implemented across the entire organization at once will incur significant financial damage, not to mention the intimidation and doubt it will cast over the workforce. System integration can help assuage the impact of digital transformation by putting existing systems to their best use and only introducing new elements where necessary.

    2. Improved efficiencies

    Working with many systems — some of which may be entirely isolated — negatively impacts performances and subsequent results. There can be a sizable gap in communication and collaboration. Isolated systems may have to be manually updated with new incoming data. And let us not forget the hassle you would have to go through every time some important information needed to be retrieved. A lot of time would be wasted on interdepartmental communication for the simplest exchange of data, further delaying time-critical resolutions. Even minor errors could cause catastrophic outcomes.

    With a consolidated digital platform, you will get many benefits in terms of higher efficiency.

    Firstly, system integration will facilitate knowledge transfer by providing a high level of connectivity between teams and departments. This leads us to the second benefit — massive time-saving. Introducing a digital system would open up new possibilities for automating mundane and critical tasks. Urgent decisions could be made in real time. Each member of your organization would then be able to focus their efforts and energies on more important things, boosting the team’s collective productivity and efficiency.

    Related: 3 Key Steps to Make Your Business More Efficient and More Profitable

    3. New insights

    With disparate subsystems all handling different data stores, there is a certain gap that can sometimes be difficult or impossible to bridge. Businesses could miss out on a goldmine of valuable insights and reports that high volumes of data could potentially provide. Consequently, they likely make pivotal decisions based on incomplete or inaccurate data.

    With an integrated system, all the relevant people can access any data they need at any time. This data can then be used to analyze employee, department or overall business performance. The insights you gain into your business’s operations can then be used to make any changes needed to improve outputs and outcomes.

    Wrapping up

    System integration is an essential part of the digital transformation process, a phase without which businesses will not be able to experience the true advantages of going digital. Thus, your end goal should be not just introducing newer, more innovative IT systems in the workplace but also making room for any adjustments necessary for a truly digital, smooth and unified experience.

    Related: Why Enterprise Application Integration for Businesses is an Absolute Necessity?

    Yasin Altaf

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  • 3 Legal Mistakes Avoid When Starting an Online Business

    3 Legal Mistakes Avoid When Starting an Online Business

    If you’re thinking about starting a business, attorney Berkley Sweetapple wants to help you avoid making expensive legal mistakes. She sat down with Jessica Abo to discuss how she helps clients through her practice and legal template shop.

    Jessica Abo: Berkley, you are the founder of a legal template shop and of Berkley Sweetapple Law. Tell us a little bit about your business and your practice.

    Berkley Sweetapple:

    I have a legal template shop where I offer affordable, downloadable, fill-in-the-blank legal documents, like contracts and website policies, to creative entrepreneurs. I also have a law firm where I work one on one with online business owners. I mostly handle trademarks, contracts, copyright and website policies.

    All very important things. Did you always want to be a lawyer?

    When I was five, my dad, who was an attorney, told me that the only way I would be able to get the pot-belly pig that I wanted as a pet was to become a lawyer and fight the city that I lived in to change the local zoning ordinances.

    Did you get the pig?

    I did not get the pig, but I knew that I wanted to be a lawyer just like him so that one day I could grow up and fight for things like having pet pigs. I went to law school after college but never felt like the traditional law firm path was right for me. After I graduated from law school, I created a lifestyle blog as a side hobby and decided that I wanted to monetize the blog and create a business out of it. I joined online courses and ended up meeting other creative entrepreneurs who needed legal advice about the online business/blog space. I really enjoyed working with entrepreneurs who had online businesses and began to educate myself in that area of the law, while working full-time as a litigation attorney. Seven years after graduating from law school, I stopped practicing litigation to pursue my template shop and law firm full-time.

    Who are some of your clients and how do you help them?

    My clients are primarily coaches, online course creators, website designers, copywriters, graphic designers, and other online business owners. My favorite practice area is trademarks, which involves helping business owners secure the exclusive right to use their business name, slogan, or logo in their industry. Because trademark law is federal, I have clients with online businesses in all 50 states.

    You’ve been at this for a while. What would you say is the most expensive legal mistake you have seen someone make?

    The most common and expensive legal mistake I see business owners make is using a business name without first making sure it’s available first. If you’re starting a business, it’s important to make sure someone else hasn’t trademarked the name first, so that you don’t get a cease-and-desist letter from their attorney and are forced to rebrand. Changing a business name after you’ve launched, along with the branding, packaging, and web design that comes with the business name, can be frustrating and expensive. It’s also important to trademark as soon as possible so that no one does it before you. If you’ve been using the name and competitor trademarks first, litigation can get very expensive trying to enforce your rights.

    And that of course can be a total business nightmare. What are some of the legal boxes entrepreneurs should be checking?

    First, make sure your business name is available before you invest in any kind of branding or web design, or before you get too attached to the name. Hire an attorney to do a comprehensive trademark search. Make sure it’s available and trademark it. Second, have website policies. If you have any kind of website, like a blog or an e-commerce store, you need a couple of legal documents on your site. First, you should have terms of use, which is basically your contract with anyone who comes to your website or purchases from your website. A terms of use will contain necessary disclaimers, your refund policy, and intellectual property clauses. A privacy policy is legally required if you’re collecting any kind of consumer data. Finally, make sure you have contracts with your one-on-one clients as well as any independent contractors you hire.

    How do you make all of this less overwhelming for your clients?

    In my template shop, I try to make it as easy as possible. I’ve created contract templates tailored to different kinds of service providers, that can be downloaded and filled in within twenty minutes. For one-on-one work, I try to make the client experience as easy and efficient as possible. For example, for trademarking, I work on a flat fee model so that clients aren’t ever worried that costs will add up. I handle everything in the trademark process, from the application to Office Actions, so that clients don’t have to worry about the legal stuff and can focus on doing what they love.

    Jessica Abo

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  • 8 Things Every Business Should Do to Improve Its Online Presence in 2023

    8 Things Every Business Should Do to Improve Its Online Presence in 2023

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Regardless of the kind of business you operate, there are many things you can gain from having a strong online presence. With a powerful online presence, you can boost brand awareness, increase leads and increase sales. So, as we are moving closer to 2023, every business must plan to take its online presence to the next level.

    In this post, we will explain some important things every business should do to improve its online presence in 2023.

    Build a user-friendly, attractive website

    When creating an impressive online presence in 2023, the importance of having a website cannot be overemphasized. Your website can make it easier for people to know what you are capable of offering them. Additionally, it can tell people more about your work process, work hours, location, contact information and lots more.

    But you shouldn’t just create any site. It must be user-friendly and visually appealing. This is because the expectations of consumers are high nowadays. As a result, they will not waste their time on a low-quality, hard-to-navigate website. So, you should hire the service of experienced website developers and designers to ensure your site meets the required standard.

    Related: 4 Content Marketing Strategies You Should Use in 2023

    Use SEO

    Search engine optimization (SEO) is a digital marketing strategy for increasing your brand’s visibility in search results. As your website ranks higher in search results, more people will be able to come across your brand. Therefore, SEO can make a big difference in your online presence.

    To optimize your site for SEO in 2023, you should invest in finding the most relevant keywords. Afterward, use the keywords appropriately and naturally in your headers, meta description, blog content, social media posts, etc.

    Also, you shouldn’t forget the three most crucial aspects of SEO, which are:

    When done correctly, SEO will help you to reach more potential customers, thus, boosting your online presence.

    Related: 6 SEO Tips to Benefit Any Business

    Take advantage of local directories

    Although it may seem that local directories are only meant for local businesses, all businesses can gain from them. With the directories aid, many would-be customers can check out your business without going to your site. So, as you are trying to boost your business’s online presence, you need to create profiles on local directories such as Google.

    Invest in online ads

    While a business can grow online organically without ads, online ads can make the job easier and faster. Therefore, if you want to improve your business’s online presence, you need to invest in online ads. Facebook, Google, YouTube and other platforms now allow users to pay for ads. These ads will showcase your offers, ensuring that more people know about your business.

    Online ads are helpful for businesses in different ways. Firstly, it can be tailored to suit your target audience. You can use age, interests, location, gender, behavior and other parameters to determine who will see the ads. Secondly, the ads can be done in varying formats, such as images, texts, infographics and videos.

    Focus on only the most important online platforms

    You can explore numerous platforms when it comes to boosting the image of your business online. However, you must be careful, as being present on several platforms may not be advantageous to your business. Generally, you will have to spend lots of time online marketing your business through numerous platforms. This can be pretty distracting and even prevent you from offering quality services and products to existing customers.

    As a result, you should only focus on the most vital platforms. If you can only maximize the use of your website, emails and three social media platforms, you should concentrate on them. You just need to select the best platforms that will assist you in getting the most from your online presence.

    Post shareable and emotional content consistently

    Another way to improve your online presence is to post content your audience can share with friends. By sharing your content, it will be able to reach more people, thus, boosting your online presence. Nevertheless, most users will only share content that resonates with them emotionally. So, creating emotional and shareable content from time to time on your website and social media pages is paramount.

    Infuse emotional phrases and words into your headers, captions, blog posts, etc. Add exciting images, videos, stats and emojis to your content. Also, you can directly encourage the readers to share your post.

    Use email marketing

    Even though email marketing is one of the oldest means of digital marketing, it is still crucial today. Many internet users utilize emails and check their inbox messages regularly. According to Optinmonster.com, about 99% of email users open their emails at least once daily. So, if you can reach out to existing and would-be customers through emails, you will increase your online presence in 2023.

    To optimize email marketing, you must build an email list and craft unique subject lines and content. Also, you must send emails regularly, but don’t spam your audiences.

    Explore guest posting

    As you continue to look for ways to improve the online presence of your business, you shouldn’t limit it to your platforms. For instance, guest posting can be a great way to let more people know about your business. Guest posting refers to the process of creating a blog post on another platform’s blog. You need to add a link to your website or blog in the blog post. When people engage with your post on the website, they may click the link and visit your website.

    When choosing a platform for guest posting, ensure it is a platform with many audiences. Such a platform will allow you to reach more people.

    After doing everything above, you should keep track of the progress of your effort with Google Analytics, SEMrush, Ahrefs, etc. Keep updating these things until you have accomplished the goal of improving your business’s online presence in 2023.

    Related: How to Enhance Your SEO Efforts by Guest Posting

    Gajura Constantin

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