I can already hear the excuses. “My marketing is through word of mouth”, “I don’t want creepers stalking me online”, “I don’t understand social media”, and “Isn’t my website enough?” Let’s examine each one of these excuses to understand if they hold any water.

“My marketing is through word of mouth” – Based on the latest statistics 92% of buyers use the web to find out about products and services. In other words, if you can’t be found on the web then you are being overlooked by potential buyers. An example of how to tackle this would be something like these Nike promo code offers, that the brand puts on external websites like Raise, attracting potential buyers who browse those sites to their storefront. Even so, getting referrals to follow through is tough when social proof (i.e. credibility online) is not there. You have to make it easy for folks to get to know you, like you and trust you.

“I don’t want creepers stalking me online” – Your average creeper does not stalk a business website, not unless they know you or a member of your business personally. A disgruntled customer may spam 1-star reviews and a boatload of lies, but keep calm and petition to have those removed and they will learn to move on. No doubt that people should be concerned about how much personal info they share online, and take steps like getting a VPN from somewhere like surfshark to help protect themselves when they are online, but we are talking about your business. You don’t need to put down anything more than legal information like your business address and contact number. You should be sharing your business’ differentiated value to your ideal prospects. Shifting your online focus to business alone can be hard if you are using social media for personal reasons. What we mean to say is, using social media should not only be for your personal development, but also, for the growth of your business venture. Making use of services by internet providers like epb internet could prove to be an amazing outlet for your enterprise’s further development.

“Isn’t my website enough?” – Like many other business startups, I was told I needed a website. I paid a lot of money for a good website after realizing it wasn’t a DIY job. If social media and Web 2.0 hadn’t come along it might have even sufficed. But the new reality is that our websites have to become the hub of our online presence because it’s the only platform where we are in total control. We can’t rely on social media to provide the right experience that will get people to buy our products and services. But we can’t ignore the stark reality that our marketing has to move our ideal prospects from other online platforms to our website.
You may need a comprehensive online marketing strategy that includes SEO (offered by the likes of this San Diego SEO agency), PPC campaigns, email marketing, and other methods to integrate various online platforms.

“I don’t understand social media” – Social media is changing rapidly and constantly. TikTok, for example, is a relatively new platform where you might want to buy TokMatik TikTok likes to boost your profile’s activity. This should get you ahead of the game and make you more noticeable on the platform. It’s up to you to figure out which social media platforms work best and to also make sure you can be found. Not all social media platforms can work for any kind of business. For example, a b2b retailer may not do well on Pinterest or Snapchat, but an entertainment or artisan business would. Take a few minutes and see how your competitors are using their platforms. It will be an eye-opener. It may be a steep learning curve but what are the alternatives?

I encourage you to download the FREE ebook “7 Essential Stages of a Total Online Presence” by John Jantsch. It will be a real eye opener!

So now that I have hopefully answered the question “Why aren’t you online” my next question is “What are you going to do about it?. Let me know what you’re thinking…