You created your online business from nothing. You solve problems you care about, know your target customers, learn new skills all the time and constantly ask yourself (and your users) what you can optimize and improve.
But your market is getting more and more competitive.
And while there are plenty of ways to compete with big businesses, there are also some tweaks you can make as to how you’re perceived in your niche.
A small business can always look more professional. If you aren’t sure where to start in order to offer better services, give your visitors a fantastic experience on your site, and sound more professional than others when communicating your message, here are some tips for you:
1. Get better hosting.
If you’ve been around for some time, chances are you haven’t changed your hosting provider.
No one really wants to go through the hassle of transitioning from one service to another, as there might be complications. Luckily, that can also be done for you on their end.
Your site, however, is the foundation of your online business. It can absolutely never be down. You want to have a secure server and to know that every single page loads in no time.
Even if you’ve done everything else right, if you haven’t upgraded to a better hosting provider (and invested more money in this), you won’t see any improvement in your rankings and performance.
Not only that, but what about posting something that goes viral? Do you think your platform can handle such a spike in the traffic, or will that mean visitors will just see an error page?
That’s considered a huge inconsistency in your customer experience.
Be prepared for things like that. That will always keep you a step ahead of the competition, and will help you sleep better at night knowing your site is monitored and secured.
2. Put together professional-looking presentations.
We live in a design-driven economy.
A presentation can speak 1000 words. It can make or break your new business idea, and whether or not you’ll earn revenue in the future.
So you can’t afford to lose potential clients or partners because your presentations aren’t good enough.
You’ve got the content, but if the design isn’t on point, all your efforts were wasted.
Presentations influence decisions, and can change how others perceive your whole business. When pitching to investors, that’s one of the key factors as to whether or not you’ll close a deal.
So let’s not ruin your bright future in online business just because of not having the tools to help you out.
Use some of the best business powerpoint templates and know that your slides will impress anyone you show them to.
3. Get a phone number for your business.
Don’t make the mistake to think that telephone communication in today’s business is dead.
It still matters. That’s mainly because it’s safe and confidential, more personal, and an extra step you’re taking to show your clients that you care, and also shows professionalism.
So have a dedicated phone number for your online business and put it in visible places, such as every page of your website, your business cards, social media, email signature, and more.
It’s one more way to show you’re available and let people reach you with any concern.
Don’t forget that establishing an address and phone number (together with your website, business email and more), are the cornerstones of your business identity.
4. Get an assistant.
You might have a team already, and have probably worked with plenty of contract workers. You know how effective that is, and are happy with the results, knowing the job can be done by professionals, while you have your time back to focus on growth, strategies, generating leads, and networking.
But what about your own assistant?
Again, that can be a virtual one, for almost no money, and can turn into your most important team member.
You can start with a freelancer again, try different people and see how it goes. Once you know what you require exactly and have a better understanding of how to express your desires, you’ll be able to delegate more of the tasks you thought you’d be doing for the rest of your life.
A virtual assistant is one of the most common positions for people working online from all over the world, and you can easily find one that will be paid by the hour and get to work.
That immediately makes you more professional. A VA will answer your business phone, reply to emails, schedule your meetings, remind you of things you’ve got to do, and more.
To free even more of your time and clear your mind, you can delegate any type of research that needs to be done, social tasks, keeping up with news in the industry, and more.
If you feel like you’re not professional enough and want to change something about the way you do online business and how people see you in your field, these 4 actions can be taken no later than tomorrow.