How to succeed online part 1. I’ve gotten an overwhelming amount of support following my announcement last week of my consulting sessions “How to succeed online”. I’m so happy to be working one on one with bloggers and entrepreneurs who have opened online stores (many whom I’ve featured on this blog).  There are some questions that get asked over and over again, so please indulge me for a moment and let’s take it right down to the basics.

HOW TO SUCCEED ONLINE PART 1

How do I start? Assuming that you’ve already started dabbling in your business and have already set up a blog or an online store, this is the ideal time to start laying down your foundation. You have your store or blog name and you want to keep it consistent on all your social media channels. There are some really easy tools that can help you check to see if it’s available on your preferred channels. If it’s there, lock it in even if you plan on using a particular channel at a later date. Also, purchase the url of your name. You may not be using it right now, but always think big and keep your options open. Trust me, I speak from experience when I say this: it’s much easier to have everything set up before you start, changing your name at a later date is a pain and can be a big deal.

Why aren’t people staying on my site? So there are several answers to this question, but in the spirit of keeping it simple let me say that appearance does matter. I can’t tell you how many pages I’ve gone to, only to be completely turned off by what I see. It takes only a few seconds to make that first impression, so you want to show yourself in the best possible light. Is your page visually attractive? Does it say what you want it to say? Let’s face it, we live in a visual society, the internet is a visual medium and that needs to be reflected on your site. You absolutely don’t need to be a designer to have a beautiful page/blog, there are many tools to help you start but you do have to put the work in.

Do I need to spend a lot of money? The answer is a wholehearted “no”. Sure, you can hire a whole team to get you started, but part of the fun is actually building your blog or page. At the beginning, keep it simple so that you can take the time to get to know your readers/customers. In time, you can start customizing and then investing your money where it will really count. The same goes for images (note that some businesses will need to hire a professional photographer). Sure, you can buy a lot of the photos and you might even need to, but you can also take a lot of them yourself, especially if you are running a blog.  People always seem to think that they need to buy an expensive camera. I hate to break it to you, but a high end camera won’t take a great picture. That learned technique comes from you. I always recommend that you spend some time reading about photography or perhaps even take a course (there are many online courses and most camera stores offer them). Quite often, you can get away with using your phone and then cleaning up your photos with easy to use and sometimes free programs.

These are just some of the questions that I get on a weekly basis and so far, it has been a huge pleasure helping others. The trick to all of this is to not let yourself get overwhelmed with all the information out there, take it one step at a time and it will all come together. Don’t talk yourself out of it because you can do it, it’s just a matter of getting out of your own head. If you didn’t catch it, Style On The Side now has an app which you can download here, where you can ask your questions and follow along for more great tips!

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*images courtesy of Dollar Photo Club