6 Key Ways to Make Your New Business Stand Out Above the Rest

August 13 2019 - Over 625,000 new businesses open within a single year.

Translation? 

If you're thinking of starting your own company - or if you've already taken the first steps to do so - you have to face the reality of your competitors. Even if you have a totally unique idea now, soon, imitators will come out of the woodwork and try to improve upon what you've created.

As an entrepreneur, it's never too early to start thinking about what you can do both personally and professionally to make your business stand out - and be profitable in the long and short-term.

So, what can you do before you even open your doors to ensure you have the best business possible?

Read on to find out how your business can get started with a bang and grow from there.

1. Start Building Your Website Now

Before you dream up your business card designs, develop your first email marketing campaign, or even attend your first industry networking conference, there's one huge thing you have to do.

Build your company's website.

You don't want to spend time getting potential clients and investors excited about what your company has to offer, only to be met with nothing when they look for more information about your business online.

Plus, about half of all small businesses don't even have a website.

By getting yours up and running, you've already got a head start on making your business stand out from the competition.

Hiring a professional website developer is an absolute must when it comes to building the best business website. Unless you're incredibly tech-savvy and have experience with building websites, you'll do yourself a disservice by taking the DIY approach.

The experts can ensure your website loads quickly, is mobile-friendly, is intuitive to navigate through, and appealing to visitors.

2. Fine-Tune Your Brand

As you start creating your company's website, you'll need to fill in things like your mission statement, what made you start the company, and even the kind of clientele you're looking to attract.

Having compelling answers to these questions isn't just about establishing yourself as an expert in your industry. They'll also ensure that you develop and refine a strong, unique, and emotionally engaging brand voice and strategy. 

What many new business owners don't understand?

Branding is about much more than just a logo or a font.

It's about the story of your company, sharing your passion, and even creating your own buzzwords and lingo to get people as excited about your company as you are.

We suggest that you browse through this list of questions you need to ask yourself when defining your brand to ensure you're sending the right message.

3. Work on Yourself

Here's the thing: yes, it's important to conduct market research, to get to know your competitors, and of course, to get active on social media.

But as an entrepreneur, you also need to work on your own skillset. Often, you're selling your personality to other people just as much as you're selling your company.

It's not just about being a great talker and having the right clothes (though yes, that's definitely a part of it.) It's about being able to make other people see your vision, and about being able to inspire others.

You can't do that if you're exhausted, stressed out, and frustrated with the slowness of progress. (And trust us, these feelings are all things you're going to experience as you build your own business.)

Now is the time to sign up for public speaking courses, watch how other people make presentations at conferences, and even repeat silly positive mantras to yourself in the mirror.

Therapy for entrepreneurs is a great way to remind yourself to take time to care for you, in addition to helping you manage your emotions and even learn how to solve a conflict.

4. Generate Buzz Before Launch Day

Many people want to "hit the ground running" as soon as their business opens its doors for the first time.

However, working yourself to the bone the minute your business makes its first sale is a recipe for burnout. The same goes for waiting to create your marketing plan until your store actually opens up. You'll be left waiting for customers to randomly walk through the door - and low sales numbers will make you lose hope.

You need to start creating a marketing foundation for your company long before launch day.

One of the best and most cost-effective ways to do just that?

Invest in promotional products. They're cheap, you can choose items that are in line with what your company does, and they're a tangible reminder to people to come to check out your business.

Think outside of just branded pens and notepads.

Go for items like sunglasses, USB keys, lip balm, stress balls, and tote bags.

Remember that promotional items don't just help to get the person who received them to buy from you. They also make everyone else who sees the person using them curious about your brand.

5. Study up on SEO

You know that your company offers awesome products, killer prices, and access to some of the top minds in your industry. 

But finding out how to make others realize that is a major challenge that many new businesses face. Of course, as we mentioned above, print and other traditional marketing tactics are essential to helping people to learn about your business. 

But usually, print marketing materials won't be able to fully go into detail about the specifics of your products, your qualifications, and more.

So, where can that happen?

Online - which is why now is definitely the time to do what top businesses do and develop a strong digital marketing plan.

The foundation of any digital marketing plan is SEO, short for search engine optimization. We all head to Google and other search engines to find the products or services we need in a location that's convenient for us. Your customers are doing the same thing.

SEO is all about doing everything you can to make your company's website show up in the search engine result pages of users who are the most likely to need what your business has.

Now is the time to conduct keyword research, start a blog, guest post on other websites, and claim third-party listings.

As with building your website, we also strongly suggest that you work with a professional SEO agency to build the right strategy.

6. Get Reviews and Testimonials Now

Everyone wants to buy from or work with a business that already has a great reputation.

Not quite as many people are willing to be someone's "guinea pig" or first customer. But if you're not officially in business yet, how can you create a strong reputation for yourself and your company?

By offering exclusive previews and products to members of your target market in exchange for a review or testimonial. These freebies are also an awesome way to market your business on social media.

You can announce that you're doing a "sneak peek giveaway" of what you hope will become your bestselling product. You'll be amazed by how many people are suddenly willing to try it out now that it's free and getting attention on social media.

Then, claim your online business listings and start asking those customers to leave your business a review.

Just make sure you always respond to the reviews, and that you also feature them on your business website.

Make Your New Business Stand out with These Tactics

No one said that starting a new business would be easy, but it's definitely the right fit for someone with tenacity, passion, and of course, a little bit of star power.

Now is the time to start creating an awesome website, defining what your brand stands for, and building a marketing strategy that's in line with your local and target market.

Sometimes, becoming a top business takes some serious patience and a few bumps in the road. However, we think it's all worth it in the end.

Looking for more tips and trips for making your business stand out? Need to know how to conduct serious market research? Just want to study up on the psychology of selling? 

That's what our site is all about.

Don't let your competitors get ahead of you. Bookmark our blog to make sure you know all about the latest ideas before they have a chance to learn about them. 

We can't wait to help you create a business that shines.

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