One of my favorite things about self-employment is connecting with others who have decided to build their own businesses. It’s spectacular when talented, creative and ambitious individuals decide they are brave enough to embark on a new journey.
A year or so ago, a former colleague of mine started a blog highlighting her love of modern beach designs, as well as her amazing ability to refurnish and reupholster beach house furniture. Recently, when she decided to evolve from a blog into a business, I lent a hand. I helped her craft a website presence that showcased her wares, as well as her creativity and activity across visual networking sites like Pinterest.
The idea of a website presence can be very daunting. While we all know that having a website is a mark of validation, it can be hard to build something that accurately represents who you are, without also creating additional work that can distract you away from doing what you do best.
When thinking about where you want to develop your presence online it’s best to think about your transactional goals — that is, the actions you want your audience to take. For example, if you have something to sell, your primary transaction goal will be to have customers complete an online purchase. If you write blog posts, another transactional goal will be to get users to read your content on a regular basis. That may mean getting users to sign up for a newsletter or comment on your posts. Once you define these transactional goals, the idea is to set benchmarks so you can track your success and evolve your engagement strategy.
Whether you’re just starting out or growing your business, it’s important to continually define and redefine the goals you have for your customer and for your business so you can better deliver an optimal customer experience.