The digital online age has been on us for a while now, and more and more businesses realize they need to be here in order to compete. There are so many ways to bring your business online that it can make your head spin.  But the rule-of-thumb, is to have a presence where your audience and/or customers are hanging out.   

This is not a thorough or exhaustive list, but here's some places where many businesses hang their hat as far as their online presence goes:

Website

Social Media

Mobile Apps

Webinars

Live Stream Conferences

VCards

A website is a good starting point for most companies.  Websites typically contain contact information, products and services offered, information about the company and its people, testimonials from happy customers, and ways to learn more or purchase items they want or need.   The trick and the challenge, is to drive traffic to your website and turn visitors into customers.  SEO, video, and social media campaigns are commonly used methods of driving traffic to websites.   Either way, at least get a simple website where people can find and contact you.

Social media offers so many platforms it would be impossible to cover or even mention all of them.   The major players are still Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Google, however, there are a slew of others coming up in the rear view mirror at a very fast pace, like Instagram, Pinterest, SnapChat, WeChat, WhatsApp, Yelp, and many more.  Business owners and digital marketers need to find where their prospects and customers are hanging out and spend more time running campaigns and generating leads on those sites.  Using video in your social media campaigns is a great way to attract and engage your viewers and call them to action, typically an action that allows you to acquire their contact information, like name, email, and phone number, so you can begin to educate and nurture your new leads.  Keep in mind, be consistent at posting to your social media campaigns, so your fans know when to expect your content and look forward to seeing it.  Encourage your new followers to share your information with their friends and colleagues so you can expand your reach at a faster pace.

Mobile apps are another very popular way to attract and engage your audience.   An app allows you to capture and hold your audience attention without the interruption and noise from a social media site like Facebook or SnapChat.  Our HBSU app allows us to show all our stuff in one place at a very affordable price.   Apps also allow companies to enhance their brand and reach out to customers on a regular basis, offering coupons, discounts, new information, and more.  It's a great way to build your customer base and develop raving fans.

Webinars and live stream conferences allow companies to stage events without requiring travel by the audience.   This saves everybody involved, time and money.   Webinars are great for marketing, training, coaching, and introducing people and products.  If you have a computer or mobile device with a web camera, you can easily setup webinars and conferences, using free software like Zoom or Facebook Live, or you can use more sophisticated meeting software like Webex or Go to Meeting.   Whatever you use, the idea is to bring people together in a public but captive environment, where you control the information flow.  It's a great way to share your content and ideas while also marketing your business.  

VCards are the last item I will mention.  VCards are virtual business cards, that eliminate the time, cost and waste of printed business cards, and give you and your business another online platform to market your business.  Rather than hand out costly printed cards, that mostly end up in someones shoebox or waste bin, a vcard is transferred to other people via text message, email, or direct online download.  With a simple click your prospect can have your business vcard, that is very much like an app or mobile website, that is automatically updated if you change or add anything to your vcard.   Check out this video to learn more about the world's smartest business card...

 Want to get a VCard of your own?  Click the button below to see my card and more information about getting your own card....