There are lots of different ways to generate new business using the web and it’s a subject that can be written about and approached in 100 different ways, but here are a few basics to get things going.
Whether you’ve got an existing website or look in to a new market, the principals below are exactly the same, and a good general starting point.
1) Find your market
this sounds, obvious but is often completely missed or misunderstood.
If you’re looking to sell more Widgets, the first step is to understand what type of person your potential customer is, how the might find you, under what circumstances will they look for what you’re offering and finally what does your customer understand your offering to be called.
For example, if you’re a City Lawyer looking for merger and acquisition opportunities, Facebook may not be the best platform to advertise on, whereas LinkedIn or Google may be.
Often, keyword research is a good starting point in terms of assess how big a online market may be and how your customer describes what you’re offering.
Google has an excellent Key Word Tool which is always a great starting point
2) Build an offering
Often high street retailers consider moving online to be setting up a shop with the same 60,000 products they stock but online. This can be done, but is often a long and time consuming process fraught with complications and low rewards.
Often the best strategy is to start small with a clear offering, that tests a new market with low risk and low cost.
It’s often better and more profitable to one focused offering and do one thing that well than offer thousands of products and services.
3) Test your market
Relying on Google natural search rankings can be slow at best. Consider using something like Google AdWords to test a market offering.
Google AdWords may not always be a good long term business generation solution, but they offer the following key benefits:
With Google AdWords, adverts can be online with a matter of hours. The number of times the advert has been displayed (therefore true size of potential audience) is also captured, as is this number time someone clicks on the advert (it’s relevance and popularity).
This makes AdWords a phenomenally effective testing tool.