I’m back at my home office in Florida after almost a week hanging out in the Bahamas. (one of those days…….) Although I love being on the island, I also love being at home taking care of business. I especially like writing this blog that gives me a chance to stay in touch and to share useful information.
One of the most exciting aspects of my business is when I get to hear from you. Either during one of my Teleseminars or, when you provide feedback. So, I would love it if you would take a few minutes to provide your comments below. Please feel free to ask any questions you might have about this or any online business topic.
This weeks’ feature article “Creating Your Online Brochure” examines one of three types of websites every Online Business Owner must have. (You might recall my mentioning this in an earlier article)
To your online success!
When you are a solopreneur (an entrepreneur who works solo) you need to have a branding website (or page) which should perform like a brochure online. The primary objective of this site, above anything else, is to position you as credible source of solutions or information. That’s it. Nothing more, nothing less.
There are a few key elements that you must have in place in order to make your website effective. Remember, your “brochure” should serve as the hub for all of your business.
It allows visitors to find out who you are and has enough “oomph” so that people will see it is truly a viable business. Like you are really operating professionally! This is a very important component of a branding site/page. You want visitors to look at your site and think, “wow, it looks like this person know their stuff and can help me.” Whatever it is that you want people to feel about your business, that’s what the branding/brochure website pages should communicate.
Bear in mind, your home page should be designed to do two things: first, to convert visitors to opt-ins or subscribers and secondly, to point them to where you want them to go. to accomplish this, there are a few pages that you absolutely must have on your brochure site.
What are some things you want visitors to learn about your business? You want to make it easy for them to get to that information on your site. In addition to your home page, your brochure site should include these pages:
- About/Meet – not to tell your life story but to share what it is about you that should make then listen to you and want to learn from you.
- Contact – include a mailing address (a PO Box is preferable especially if you run your business from your home), email and a phone number. Also, any details about office hours if you have them, when to expect a return call etc. This info should also be included on every page, perhaps in the footer or sidebar.
- Services/Products – This is where you will start to lead visitors or bluntly ask for a decision about hiring you or buying your products
- Blog (more about this later) – your resource to provide useful information to your visitors and potential customers
- Customer Profile – depending on your type of business, you can include a page that provides specific details about your preferred customer (although you can simply included this information on your home and about pages).
Another critical element of branding websites (true for most types) is the formatting. Making sure that your content is inviting to read. I will provide specific tips and tricks for doing this effectively, in an upcoming article, so stay tuned! Be sure to sign up for my eZine and subscribe to my blog so you never miss an issue!
About Gina Mortimer Storr
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