If you’re reading this, I assume you’re looking for ways to market your business online. Maybe you’re even wondering if there’s more than one right way to go about it. Keep reading.
There are many tactics you can use to get the word out about your business, and the internet makes a lot of them easier to do. When it comes to marketing your business online, you have two options; you can do it directly through social media or you can hire someone to do it for you. We’re going to run down the pros and cons of each of these options.
Doing It Yourself
If you’re the type of person who wants to do everything yourself, you can take the easy road and use social media to promote your business. There are many advantages to doing this yourself. You’ll have complete control over what is said about your business and you can engage with your audience at any time.
The main disadvantage is that you’ll need to do everything yourself which can be time-consuming. You’ll need to set up social accounts, write copy for the blog posts, and perform all the necessary SEO (search engine optimization) tasks. If you don’t have the time to do this, then it’s probably best to outsource the work or hire someone to do it for you.
Hiring An Agency
We all love a bargain, and there are a lot of reputable agencies out there that will do all the SEO work for you for a reasonable fee. They will set up all your social media accounts and perform all the necessary link building to get your website or blog posts found on the internet when someone performs a search.
The advantage of hiring an agency is that they will take care of all the dirty work for you. You simply need to provide them with your goal and a few notes about your target audience. They will provide you with regular reports and keep you up-to-date with any changes they make to get you to the top of the search engine results.
The main disadvantage is that you’re giving away your personal information to a third party. You’re trusting them with your business and your customers’ personal information. They could steal it and misuse it. Additionally, if you’re planning on using social media to advertise your business, then you’ll need to maintain the accounts and perform all the necessary updates and posts on your behalf. This takes a lot of time. Even if you have someone helping you, it will still be a lot of work.
The Hybrid Approach
If you want to save time while still wanting to do everything yourself, then you can explore a hybrid approach. This is where you outsource the SEO work to a reputable agency, while still maintaining complete control over your social media accounts. They can set you up with social media profiles for various platforms (Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter) and begin performing all the necessary link building to get your website or blog articles found on the internet when someone performs a search.
The advantage of this approach is that you don’t have to worry about maintaining the social media accounts yourself. They’ll be doing all the heavy lifting. Additionally, the agency will be able to provide you with regular reports on the performance of your campaigns. They will also be able to give you tips on how to make the most of social media to promote your business.
The disadvantage is that you’re still giving away your personal information to a third party. This is something you should avoid unless you absolutely have to. Outsourcing the work can be a good option, but only when you feel like you have nothing to lose. If you do have something to lose, then doing it yourself is the way to go. Additionally, the agency will only be able to perform certain tasks for you so you need to define what you want them to do specifically.
Find The Perfect Niche
When it comes to choosing affiliate products to promote, you’ll want to find a niche that is close to your heart. If you’re not able to find a product that you know and love, then consider creating your own product. You can use the knowledge you’ve gained to create something that will be beneficial to your audience. You’ll be able to build a following quickly, making you a potential income source.
Choosing your own niche doesn’t mean you have to limit yourself to one. Find a few niches that you know and love and are willing to promote. You can explore many different products related to your niche, picking one that is slightly more expensive than the rest. This way, you can encourage your audience to part with their hard-earned money and buy your product. It’s a win-win situation.
The disadvantage of this approach is that you need to find the time to study up on the various products you’ll be promoting. You’ve got a lot on your plate already, so adding more responsibility can be difficult. Outsourcing the work to someone else is a good option, but you still need to be willing to do the legwork yourself. Additionally, if you begin to grow your audience rapidly, then you may not have the time to become an expert in every niche you promote. Switching gears, marketing yourself, can be difficult as you’ll have to learn a new approach for everything. It’s not impossible, but you’ll need to make the time to learn new skills.
Create Killer Content
Even if you’ve found the perfect niche and are currently creating affiliate products related to it, you still need content. Without content, none of the products you’re promoting will have any value at all. You can write a blog post about anything related to your niche, from product reviews to in-depth guides to answering common questions. If you want to create a successful blog, then you need to provide your audience with high-quality content that is interesting, helpful, and most importantly, entertaining.
Blogs that provide valuable information to their audience are usually the ones that people come back to time and time again. It’s often referred to as “evergreen content” because the information it provides will still be valuable to your audience even if you don’t provide any new content for many years. If you can pull this off, then your business will experience exponential growth.
The disadvantage of this approach is that you need to find the time to write and publish a blog post every week. Even if you have someone helping you, it will still be a lot of work. Additionally, if you want to create a successful blog, then you’ll need to learn how to write effectively and how to choose your topics. There are many traps that inexperienced bloggers can fall into, but you can learn to identify them and choose your topics wisely. After all, your blog is a reflection of you as a business, so make sure that everything about it reflects good judgment and taste.
Use SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
One of the most important things you can do to drive more business to your website is to optimize it for the search engines. This involves using keywords in the titles and the content of your websites, as well as linking your website to other reputable sources with relevant content. A healthy dose of SEO will get your website found easily by your target audience, and may even attract new customers to your business.
The disadvantage of this approach is that you need to be doing this anyway, so why not hire someone to help you out? Using keywords in your content and linking your site to other reputable sources is important no matter who you choose to do it for you. Outsourcing the work is a good option, but you need to make sure that you are using legitimate sources for the information you’re finding. If you suspect any of these sources are hiding something or not being truthful, then it’s probably best to choose a different one.
Get Some Bootstrap
Even if you’ve created a successful blog, you may not have the resources to properly design a website. Bootstrap provides you with the basics to get a functional website up and running. This could be a simple blog or a small business website with a few pages. It could even be an e-commerce store or a social media platform like LinkedIn.
The advantage of using Bootstrap is that it provides you with the building blocks to create a functional and attractive website. If you have someone helping you with the design of your website, then you can involve them in the planning stages so they understand your vision from the beginning. If you decide to go with a different design, then you can easily bring back the original concept. Additionally, if you decide that a certain design isn’t working, then you can easily change it without too much trouble. Just imagine how much easier it would be to bring on a new designer if you go this route. Things can get ugly when you involve more than one person in the design process. This is why it’s best to keep things simple initially and then build on it as you go along.