Start with a Marketing Plan
Preparing and organizing your thoughts and ideas
It all starts with a plan. Your first plan is your Business Plan, which we discussed earlier. A simple one-page plan is great place to start. The next plan you need is a Marketing Plan, which helps you determine how you will realize your business plan. The marketing plan will include information about your customer and what you know about them. It will also consider the process you customer goes through when considering a purchase – this is known as the customer journey.
The marketing process is often referred to as a funnel, and you may come across lots of articles and diagrams like that. I prefer the HubSpot model, which is more like a cycle. (A funnel implies that everything that goes in the top comes out the bottom. It is actually based on the number of people that progress to the point of purchase, which is funnel shaped.) The cycle is a better model, especially for artisan products, because it relates better to repeat sales, or the word-of-mouth benefit of delighted customers.
There are some one-page marketing plans out there, that a good summary reference, but you still need to do a bit of work to really prepare the background information needed for a good plan. I found that HubSpot has a lot of helpful resources and educational content that is free to access. (They offer marketing software, but you may not be ready for something like that right away. When you are ready, they have one of the best solutions for small businesses.) This article will help you create a Marketing Plan and it also includes a template or you can use their plan generator.
Hanging Your Virtual “Shingle”
When you start to market your business more intentionally, there is a lot of credibility in having your own domain name. If that is a new term to you, no worries, because you already know what it is. It is a URL, a web address … it is your business address on the Internet, www.MyCompany.com. Domain names can be used for a variety of things and there are ways to set-up sub-domains for different purposes, but for now we will stick to the basics. There are three primary reasons to consider having your own domain:
- A unique and relevant address where your business can be found online
- A unique address for your email address, which is associated with your business
- Search engine optimization (which we’ll discuss in just a moment)
When considering your domain selection, it is a good idea to keep it short, but not too short that it isn’t relevant. If you make it too short it may not be relevant enough, so www.myjewelry.com is short, but www.SouthwesternStoneJewelry.com is much more relevant. It may be a bit long to type, but when it comes to search relevance it will help float your site to the top of search results. You see search engines, like Google, won’t share their secret formula related to search ranking just the same as Coca-Cola won’t share their formula. But they have shared some details, and people have analyzed results to figure out other parts of the puzzle. We do know that if the keyword in the search is in the URL, it helps.
So how do you pick a good domain name? Unless you can rely on brand name recognition and word of mouth referrals, then short is okay. For example, Dave McDermott is a master glass craftsman with 40 years of experience. His name is his brand, so for him, McDermottGlass.com works just fine. If you are going to promote your website on the Internet and want people to find you from search, then do a little research. Open a web browser and put in search terms that you think represent your handy work. Keep modifying the search until you start to get similar results to your craft. Next, start to shorten the search to see which keywords are most relevant to what you want to represent. Once you have those keywords, consider using one or two in your domain address.
Next, go to a domain registrar like GoDaddy.com and see what available. If the name you want is not available, make some tweaks to find one that is available. Try not to use .NET or .ORG if what you really want is .COM but it is taken. The reason is that people may remember the domain name, but use .COM by default and they won’t find you. For example, if CindysChocolate.com is not available, instead try MemphisChocolates.com so you don’t create business for that other Cindy who makes chocolate.
Now, things will start to fall into place. You have a domain name that is relevant to what you create or exactly matches your brand name. Your email address is now Cindy@MemphisChocolates.com and search engines will definitely know that you have something to do with chocolate in the Memphis area.
Beyond the Domain Name
You will need to decide where and how to host your online business. Hosting is the computer that is always “on” and ready to respond to web page requests and email traffic. There are lots of hosting choices. You can use GoDaddy and set it up at the same time as when you register your domain name. There are other services, like WIX.com, where you can also buy a domain name. They have website designs that are ready-to-use, also. These are all good options for the do-it-yourself approach, and these will get you started with what you need. One consideration is what you may have planned in the longer term. If you want to have an online store with merchant services, then you may be limited to the options offered by these “bundled” services. This means that you may need to live with the limitations that may exist. Still, that may be good enough. Before you make your decisions about this, you may want to read the section below, Open a Shop vs. Online Marketplace (or Both).
TIP: When choosing a website design or template, make sure that it is “mobile-responsive.” This means that it still looks good on a mobile phone or tablet device and not just designed for a full-size computer screen. Also, this matters to Google, and is part of their search result ranking formula.
Whether you are building your website yourself or having someone build it for you, take the time to list the requirements and contents. This will help whoever is working on the site to organize the pages and features. Here are some things to consider:
- What content will be shared?
- Do you want a photo gallery?
- Will you be creating articles/blog posts?
- Do you need a map to your shop or store? (If customers come to you.)
- Do you want an events page, so people know when and where you’ll be?
- Do you want to sell products directly on your website?
- Do you need anything for customer support? (FAQs, How to care for your product, Recipes, etc.)
- Do you need a sign-up form?
- Do you need online chat to answer questions? (during business hours)
When creating your site, it is better to follow more modern web designs and have a longer page, with similar information grouped on the page. This trend is the result of more mobile devices being used. It is easier to scroll on them than to tap navigation options. Take a look at different site and see which ones you like the most and how they are organized. Don’t forget about your list from your list of marketing assets. You will want to think about which items to include in the site.
