As a business owner, you are solely responsible for the reputation and the image of your business. Perception is everything, and if you are working to ensure that people know your business and what you are about, then you likely could use help making your business look bigger. When you are running a smaller outfit, you can often be overlooked by the bigger brands doing the same job you’re doing. You want to appeal to your customers, and that means that you need to show that you are offering the right service to them. The thing is, it’s not always that impressive to be a smaller business. You need people to believe in you, and the only way that you can do that is to show that you have something to offer.
So, sometimes it’s about faking it a little. You don’t have to be a huge corporation to act like one. You also don’t have to have unlimited experience to show off what you know how to do! Many people will get the wrong impression of your abilities, and that’s what you need to work on. You have to be able to encourage people to work with you, and you can only do that if people can look at your business and see that you can offer what they need. You are a small outfit, but that doesn’t mean that you are not mighty. Now, it’s time to talk about how you can change the perceptions that others will have of your business – it’s all in the presentation. If you can present your small business as something that looks and seems more established, you’re going to have far more success in convincing clients that you are worthy of their attention.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at ten ways you can make it happen.
Tip 1: Stop Relying On Personal Email Addresses
It’s the most obvious mistake that your business can make, and yet so many people get this wrong. You need to show that your business is a real, serious outfit. However, if you are relying on a Hotmail account to get your message across, you’re not going to get very far. Your business needs to have an email address that announces your brand from the moment that people get in touch. It’s so easy to get caught up in the costs of buying email addresses, but if you want to make a good impression, it’s worth the cost for your business. You should think about adding in your first and surname into your new email address, too, so that you can be easily identified. It’s important that a personal email address stays personal and not used in businesses.
Tip 2: Brush Up Your Website
Everyone is online and there is no getting away from it. You may have a small business but that is not an excuse for a messy website. It’s important that when people click onto your website that they feel like they are making some progress and getting the answers that they need. A website is your identity and people have to be able to feel impressed when they see it. There is a relationship that needs to be built between you and your clients, and a part of that is going to be in getting people to trust you. This starts with a website that is easy to navigate, looks good and is up to date with technology. If you can keep the content coming in and ensure that it’s fresh, too, you’re going to be as large as any big business out there right now. If you can keep on top of your website, you’re going to be able to offer a better impression.
Tip 3: Get Your Business Phone Ready
You do not need to set up a separate business phone line in your house to be able to receive business calls. You also do not need to use your personal home number for your business, either. You do, however, need to make your business contact details available publicly. This means that you need to have a business phone number that is contactable and used specifically for your business. You also need to keep giving the impression that you are a big business, and you can do that with the Call Cowboy Virtual Phone System. Setting up a toll free number in your own home is so important, especially if you want people to contact you with confidence. Using a phone dialer can ensue that you get the right business telephone number while also putting together an answer phone message. Staying in touch with customers is important, but it’s even more important for them to be able to call you and not have you answer the phone in a less-than-business-like way.
Tip 4: Get An Assistant
When you are running a small business, the likelihood is that you are doing everything for yourself. You haven’t hired any staff yet because you haven’t got a big enough budget and you can do it all yourself. However, that doesn’t mean that you cannot get an assistant; and often, it’s the best thing that you can do – even if you fake it. People don’t need to know that you don’t have an assistant either. You have two avenues, here: you can get a virtual assistant to answer the phone lines for you, or you can reference an assistant that you don’t have to make your business look bigger. Getting an assistant – whether fake or real – means that your business looks bigger than it really is!
Tip 5: Networking Is Key to make your business look bigger
Connections are how you grow your business. If you are working to network and make more connections, you’re going to show that your business is bigger than it is and it will get bigger as a result. If you’re on LinkedIn and other networking websites and they have given you hundreds of connections, you are going to be able to present yourself as a larger business. Clients could be forgiven for believing that you have a global business rather than a local one. The more you network, the better off you will be!
Tip 6: Wear Many Hats
You are a business owner and you are new to the world of business – the likelihood is that you are going to be able to offer more than one service to people. You are already aware of how to offer more than one thing for your own business, which means that you are able to offer the same for clients. While wearing all these hats, the likelihood is that you are going to look like you have more than one expert working in your small office. It’s absolutely fine if people think that: this illusion of size is going to stand you and your business in good stead.
Tip 7: Get On The Social Media Train
It can take a lot of work to build a social media following, but if you’re not trying, you’re going to be behind. Small businesses often look small because their social media following hasn’t yet grown properly. But that’s on you to make sure that you grow it to make your business look bigger! It means taking the time to schedule posts on Twitter and Facebook, engaging with your commenters online, too. People need to know about your business if you want them to trust you, and this means getting onto social media and being more visible. Social media is going to be a huge benefit for your business, and if you are online, people will flock to you.
Tip 8: Bump Your Marketing Budget
Often, it’s the bigger brands that really push out their promotional materials. You see the billboards and the mailers and magazines and often, it’s the promotional stuff that shows how big you are as a company. You need a high-quality marketing budget to be able to send out the best to your customers and your potential customers. Don’t hang around waiting for a good reason to invest in a better marketing strategy: people won’t wait very long to learn more about you.
Tip 9: Take On A Professional Business Name
There are many small business owners out there that use their own personal name as their business name. It makes sense: it’s a way to easily identify who is responsible for the business. However, it’s not the most professional way to go. Small businesses are often identified easily by the fact that there is not a company name that differs from the name of the owner. You’re going to gain more interest from your ideal audience if you can generate buzz with your business name. Spend time considering names and what it could mean to your business to choose well!
Tip 10: Slow Down
Lastly, you need to look a tiny bit less eager to make your business look bigger. We don’t mean completely, but if you are used to replying to emails in 0.1 seconds, people are going to realize that you’re not all that busy. This is about the way that your business looks, and you need to slow down and pace your responses. It’ll work!
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