Let’s be honest. As much as you don’t understand it, aren’t clear how to track or monetize it, or just don’t want to do it, creating an online presence is a valuable and credible way to build your overall brand-for yourself or your business. Word of mouth is still incredibly important, but even then, unfamiliar people are likely to look up information about you online. Do you have anything at all out there? Maybe a very basic and poorly designed Web site? Chris Brogan is a social media guru and author of the upcoming Trust Agents: Using the Web to Build Influence, Improve Reputation, and Earn Trust (August 24, 2009). He has a great post on Laying Out Your Online Experience and it involves these core areas:
- A way for people to find you (aka: your Web site).
- A welcoming atmosphere. Are you greeting commentators and Twitter followers?
- Connections. This is all about building that invaluable network.
- A storefront. If you do not have an e-commerce site for even part of your products or offerings, it is high time you looked into it!
- A community. Do your customers want to engage with you and each other? Examine how you can build that in, from product reviews to tips and resources.
If you have no online presence, or your presence is thin, I can’t stress enough how important it is to start building this up. It’s still fairly new so I understand that you might be confused or intimidated. Let us know if you need guidance or additional resources. In the meantime, enjoy Common Craft’s explanation of social media!
Build a business, not a job – check out my website to see how!
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