In today’s financial climate, having a side hustle or a small business is practically mandatory. In large part, people want to own something of their own, or they want to be able to support a passion they have.
One of the first pieces of business advice you’ll ever hear is to niche down. Speak to specific people instead of trying to appeal to everyone. But when everyone seems to have a side hustle, even a business niche can feel crowded.
How Do You Stand out from the Crowd?
Here’s how you can stand out from the crowd and make sure that your business is getting the recognition it deserves.
Be Consistent
Many, many small brands struggle with consistency. If you can consistently show up with your business, you will have beaten 90% of people. What does showing up mean? It means consistently doing things like:
- posting on social media
- writing blog posts on your website
- updating your portfolio on your site and freelance sites
- marketing yourself to your ideal customers
- interacting with your audience as you build it
There is nothing worse for your small brand than when an potential customer visits your social media or website and sees that you haven’t posted anything in 3 months. This sends the message that you are not around. They might wonder if you’re still in business at all. People spend an average of 8 seconds on a website. If you lose them in those 8 seconds, you may never get that customer back.
Be Polite
People remember great customer service and fun interactions. If you give them a great experience when you work with them, or even just when you interact with them online, you’ll be doing your business a favor.
It’s easy to treat your customers like the enemy when you’re tired and they ask for something extra. But remember; this is something you’ve chosen to do. And here is the opportunity to do it. So take five, blow off some steam, and then respond to their need- politely.
Get Great Photos
Instagram now has 1 billion users. Facebook had 2.32 billion users in late 2018. We are able to document our lives so easily now, with just our phones, and we have platforms ready for us to post on 24/7. People think that any old photo will suffice for their business pages and websites.
That is not true.
Invest in high resolution, well lit photos for your professional pages. It is well worth the investment and will help you stand out from the people in your business niche who are simply taking selfies with their phone. If you want to convey the message that you are knowledgeable, professional, and ready to actually HELP people SOLVE a problem, then you need to have photos that look great.
These three things take a little extra effort but have incredible pay offs. You’ll notice how people react to your brand once you start to do just a little more than everyone else. If you want to stand out from the crowd in your business niche, you have to be willing to do the things the rest of the crowd isn’t doing.
Republished by permission. Original here.
Image: Due.com