How to succeed online part 2. Last week we started talking about how to succeed online. If you haven’t seen that post you can read about it here. There are two ways to look at your site, a fun hobby or a business and both are just fine. The key is being honest with yourself about what you are doing and realizing that succeeding online as a business is hard work. There are no “silver bullets.” This is addressed more to bloggers, but there are some take home tips for anyone running an online store as well. Last week we spoke about branding and that’s perhaps one of the biggest things you want to focus on.
I’m going to assume that like me, many of you started a blog and then after a while noticed that it was fun and then perhaps some brands contacted you offering some free product and before you knew it, you were thinking that maybe you could actually make a go of this.

HOW TO SUCCEED ONLINE PART 2

Focus. At this point, one of the hardest things you are going to have do is to shift your focus. Having a fun casual blog is very different than running a true business. Again, there is absolutely nothing wrong with being a casual blogger, but know that most likely you won’t make a living from it. And focus really means making touch choices about how you spend your time and resources.

Schedule. Having a publishing schedule is crucial not only because your readers will expect it, but also because it will save you a lot of grief when you get busy with life. It doesn’t matter so much whether you write 1x per week or 5, but make sure that it’s consistent. No need to apologize to your readers if you miss a day because let’s be totally honest, most people really won’t even notice or care. After all, they are busy with their own lives as well.

Branding part 2. I was given some great advice when I first started working seriously on my blog and had finally bought a dedicated domain. I was told to keep my personal social media accounts separate from my business ones. Family photos don’t belong on your business site (unless that is specifically what you are going for).

Find your voice. The beauty of a great blog is it’s cohesiveness and the voice of the blogger. It’s very important to be yourself and true to your voice. While an online store creates the image of a lifestyle (and needs to have its own voice as well), a blog needs to be an extension of you. Don’t pretend to be someone you’re not because people will see through that and in fact, it is you who they connect with. Why is this so important? This is going to be a large part of the building blocks for getting and keeping more visitors on your site.

Next week we’ll look at how to get more visitors to your site through social media! If you would like a more in depth discussion about your specific case then sign up for some one on one business consulting and download the Style On The Side app now.

What are some of your tips for having an online business?

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images courtesy of Dollar Photo Club