Tag: business partnerships

How to Quickly Grow Your Online Business

Scott Asai1 Comment

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Digital marketing and SEO expert Lance Bachmann agrees that many people have a goal to become their own boss but lack the effort to make them a reality. Running a business requires energy, time, and resources, and one thing that seems to hold everyone back when it comes to growing their online business is money. If you can relate to the above, check out these four tips to quickly grow your business even with limited cash.

1. Select the right website platform

For an online business, having a website is crucial, yet many owners make the mistake of selecting the wrong platform to establish their website. Unfortunately, such errors will cost your business more money and further restrict its growth potential.

There are several website hosting platforms to provide you with good plans to get your business running smoothly, at least until you’re ready to increase your resources to match your business growth. Regardless of whether you’re a small or large online business, this is a decision you should give thorough consideration to before settling on one.

2. Be unique

It’s tempting to take the shortcut approach by replicating another business’ method or strategy for quick success. While this may seem very convenient, customers now purchase from brands they know and trust. Being genuine is essential; if your business appears a clone or exact copycat of another, it can be challenging for customers to identify the real you. It’s okay to model successes and frameworks that work but avoid cloning. Let your business stand out and be unique.

3. Integrate social media

With the millions of people using social media, it has become a platform to engage large audiences. According to Statista, 70% of the US population own a social media account which they regularly use to post photos, comment, and interact with other audiences. Per these numbers, if you’re looking to reach a wider customer audience, it’s essential to share your content, products, and services on social media platforms. If you have a business website, you can easily integrate social media into your website to automatically share your content. The primary goal is to keep your profile active, grow your audience and convert them into website traffic.

However, don’t simply draw website traffic, but utilize it to grow an email list to interact with them personally. Additionally, remember not to over-rely on social media for traffic and leads.

4. Connect with complementary business

The importance of networking can’t ever be overemphasized. Building a mutually beneficial relationship with other businesses offers great potential returns for your online business. Networking is vital in creating visibility for your business in front of customers who may have otherwise not known about it. 

Networking requires good effort to link up with other businesses in the industry that are not directly competing with you for the same customers. It’s worth noting that several large corporations sometimes merge to expand their collective reach, for instance, Google partnering Samsung to create Android phones. This means Samsung customers utilize Google’s Android platform, which is a win-win for either business.

As effective as these tips are, investing in yourself remains one of the prominent ways of boosting your business for free. Is it content creation, promoting audience engagements, or messaging? You’ll need to put in the effort to become a success, particularly in the current competitive digital environment.

5. Build A Reputable Brand

Another way to quickly grow your online business is to build a reputable brand people trust. Consider working with an online reputation management agency as a way to improve your business reputation and get the word out about who you are and what you stand for. Take back control and ensure only the positive information about who you are and what you do is out there. The experts can both protect and monitor your online reputation so you can effectively and efficiently build better relationships with interested consumers. Make sure the positive aspects about working with you come to life and any negative reviews or comments are properly addressed, and aren’t at the forefront when searching for information about you or your business online.

Partners Through Thick And Thin

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The traditional wedding vow is a romantic take on the idea of commitment. For better or worse, the wedded partners promise each other to stay faithful and dedicated to the union. The idea is that, ultimately, while there might be dark and difficult days, their commitment to making it work is precisely what preserves the relationship.

The business world, however, has a similar understanding of relationships. Indeed, business partners also need to display commitment and dedication to hold their relationship together. More importantly, they have to know from the start that, while the partnership is built on the expectation of success, there will be hectic and challenging times. But for better or worse, they agree that the union of their skills and mindsets is what is going to drive the business further. Partners who succeed are those who stay together through thick and thin.

Be prepared for uncomfortable discussions

A partnership is a promise of joining forces to aim further and higher. But, while the partnership might sound seamless in theory, in practice, it can be a bumpy road until you get to know and understand each other. Therefore, you need to be ready for criticism and complaints as you work to figure out the best way to move forward. But don’t let complaints get in the way of your collective success. On the contrary, take criticism onboard. Deal with your partner feedback in the same way you would if it came from your customers. Learn from it and discover the key to improve your relationship. Sooner or later, things can go wrong, even in a close partnership. But engaging in an honest conversation keeps the heart of your partnership beating; and as you do, you learn to get your objectives and approaches back in sync.

You need to go out of your way to meet them

Your partnership needs to exist beyond the boundaries of the office. Your partner is not just a cog in the machine. He’s a friend in the business world. You need to work to maintain this friendship, and ultimately, you need to be ready to engage socially. A catch-up lunch during the week is an excellent way of deepening your connection, especially if you are comfortable talking about your personal life and challenges. Discussing kids, showing each other pictures of the latest home improvement project, or even planning an evening out together can help to reinforce your bond. Why not train together too? If you want to keep it business-like, you can opt for golfing – you’ll find plenty of affordable equipment on rockbottomgolf.com, if you’re not an enthusiastic golfer. Similarly, if you live in the same area, why not schedule your running routes together or join the same gym? In short, there are plenty of options to see each other outside of the office environment.

It should be a win-win relationship

Business partners are brought together by one crucial goal: They want to launch a successful product, service or event. In other words, regardless of the friendship connection that might be between you, your top priority is to ensure that you both bring something indispensable to the project. It’s no surprise that partners who come from different backgrounds work well together: They have complementary skills. The combination of your understanding for each other and your specific expertise makes the partnership stable and effective. More often than not, one partner brings the designing and creative skills while the other delivers the operational and logistical side of the business.

Think long-term at all times

There is no denying that building a business partnership that can thrive in the modern market is tough. For a start, your collaboration is unlikely to hit the ground running. You will need time to establish the rules of working together and creating toward the same goal. As you both come from different backgrounds and experience paths, aligning your strategies can take time and effort. But in the process, you learn to develop a consistent message across the board and to define your long-term goals, as per entrepreneur.com. You will need to keep the long-term objective in mind to stay focused and go through demanding and challenging times.

You need a hit

Last, but not least, your common project needs to attract customers. The primary purpose of working together is to generate a new source of income. Two people who appreciate each other and work toward one unique objective can still fail to build a successful partnership if they can’t sell their product or service.

Just like the wedding bond, your partnership needs to stay united through thick and thin. But, unlike marriage, your business partnership requires a profitable goal to justify its existence too. Making it work as partners is as much about hitting the market as understanding each other.

All Business Relationships Survive & Thrive In The Following Ways:

Scott Asai2 Comments

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Businesses are known for acting in a relatively selfish manner. We all know that while a business might exercise goodwill and be ran by profoundly decent people, the structure of a business must be geared towards survival if it hopes to continue. Even non-profit organizations in pursuit of a great cause will need funding to pay salaries, office rental, and a range of logistical costs to ensure their work can be achieved. This means, just like people, our businesses can be friendly up until a point, as long as their basic needs are met.

However, just like human relationships, sometimes a firm can help itself survive by allying itself with those around it. Businesses can thrive on goodwill just as human partnerships can, and not only survive, but thrive. It can be essential to know where to begin if you hope to establish yourself as more of a reliable force in the market.

Consider our advice:

Goodwill Between Firms

Goodwill often comes in the form of little actions. For example, you may decide to forgo a current small debt thanks to a large upcoming order, or perhaps deliver the goods for free despite the relative cost incurred to you. You may send free sample or full products to their office. For example, if you supply a firm with computer parts, you may send a batch of branded mouse-mats for free to help them set up. View this guide to nurturing your supply chain relationships for even more advice regarding upstream and downstream business connections.

Goodwill can also mean referring them to another firm who could better settle inquiries you can’t quite manage, putting in a good word for them. It might be that you offer free training, or something simple. A restaurant might offer discounted delivery lunches for staff of an office responsible for handling their marketing. This kind of goodwill connects firms, people, and helps out in small ways. It is akin to having a friend. In such a competitive industry, this can feel like a breath of fresh air.

Take Care Of The Customer

The customer isn’t always right, but they are always valuable. This means that taking steps to take care of your customers will often help them take care of you in kind. Remaining honest about how products are made, honoring long-term customers with loyalty rewards, celebrating customers with an outreach program or generally doing everything you can to keep quality high will result in a carefully considered relationship that helps honesty travel in both directions.

Remain Transparent

Remaining transparent is the easiest method of gaining trust. Let’s say one of your business partners commits a PR nightmare, such as posting a tweet that has vaguely abhorrent political undertones. This sounds like an unlikely scenario, but it happens. Your connection to a firm like this can be a PR nightmare for yourself also, so disconnecting from them but doing nothing to hide your previous relationship can show you are committed to living by your values. Or, it might be that you believe the firms intention was mischaracterized, and sometimes sticking by them can show rationality and dedication that both customers and other businesses may appreciate.

With these tips, we hope your business relationships remain worthwhile.