 Once you've done all of the background work on building your business, it's time to count down the days until the launch. As the big day draws near, here are the things you need to do to get ready to open your doors. Test Everything Far ahead of your launch, make sure that all of your systems work. Check all email addresses or other forms of contact. If you have an online store, make sure the shopping cart works. Test all technical aspects of your business so that once your business is open, there won't be any bumps in the road. Make sure you have your tech support service ready at-hand in case there are problems. Develop a Launch Plan Create a marketing plan that's specifically for your launch. Decide where you're going to publish what and when. Try to keep a steady stream of content about the launch as you lead up to the day. Build the Buzz Starting a month before your business launch, start building the buzz. Let people know that you're about to launch and give them a taste of what they can expect. Share information on social media. Wherever possible, get people involved. Hold contests or ask for ideas to get your audience interacting with you. Seek Social Proof One specific way to build the buzz is to reach out to influencers or experts in your niche and give them a sample of your product or service in exchange for a testimonial. They can tell others the benefits they got from using your offering and you can use this to promote your launch. Conduct Research As you get ready to launch, this is a great time to conduct some market research. Give select members of your audience a sneak preview of your business and get their feedback. See if there are any improvements they'd like to see made and tweak ahead of the big day. Get Your Tracking Systems in Place Choose the metrics you'll use to measure your business performance. Get a tracking system in place that involves regular monitoring and occasionally sitting down for a deeper analysis. Consider an Initial Discount You might want to consider offering a discount on products and services to celebrate the launching of your business. Offer a bonus, discount, or additional free offer for those who place orders on the first day. Set a limit to add some urgency. Plan for the Big Day You need to do more than just plan the pre-launch. You'll have to be on-hand to make sure that everything goes as smoothly as planned. There will also be things to do post-launch, like following up with customers, looking for new promotional opportunities, and watching your metrics. Do you have a great business idea that you're ready to make a reality? If so, in the Innovate Academy, we offer a full course that takes you through the process of launching a business step by step. Each module has action steps so you actually start setting up your business as you work through the course. You can find it HERE. About The Author Pat Simes is an entrepreneur, a blogger and Founder of Innovative Business Solutions and Innovate Academy. She currently resides in the Midwest and is committed to inspiring and empowering entrepreneurs to transform their vision to reality.
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 With the rise of online marketing over the last few decades, there is now a head-spinning variety of methods to add to traditional offline approaches you can use to put your offer in front of your target market. Here are some of today's key marketing channels both online and off. Social Media Social media is a great place to conduct market research, build relationships with your audience, and promote your products and services. Sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram give you a wealth of information about the people who buy products like yours. You can get to know them and introduce them to your brand. Although people don't generally buy directly on social media, it has become an increasingly important step in the buying process. Publish Content Offer helpful advice and share your knowledge with readers by publishing articles about your topics. You can find offline publishing opportunities but the quickest way to get your work widely read is to publish online. You can start your own site or blog, or for even better results, find websites or blogsites that publish articles. Get your work out there to reach a new audience. Email Marketing Start an email list and offer helpful content to your subscribers. Email is still the most intimate marketing channel on earth. Create a freebie offer in exchange for people signing up for your list and set up an opt-in page to capture names and addresses. You can promote products and services through your email messages, but most of the content should be informational and helpful, not promotional. Search Engine Optimization You'll still get a great deal of leads through search engines, so make sure that all of your websites are search engine friendly. Choose some good keywords and use them naturally throughout your text. Make sure your site is easy to navigate and try to build some backlinks into your site from related sites. Offline Events Attend trade shows, conferences, seminars and local events. Hold a booth and give a presentation if possible where you introduce your topic. Just like your content marketing, give people some information they can use and then tell them that you have more to offer. Make sure you have professional business cards to hand out to people you meet offline. Your business card should be eye-catching and include not only your contact information, but a short blurb describing the unique value your business offers. Networking is essential to growing a business and you should never miss an opportunity to meet someone and tell them what you do. The Basics of Marketing Remember that the concept of marketing is actually quite simple – just find your audience and put your offer in front of them. Choose the marketing channels where you can most easily and effectively reach your target market. Was this report helpful? If you want to know more about building your business, checkk out Innovate Academy Memberships. Through memberships you learn how to start your business from the initial planning stages all the way to the launch. Check Out Innovate Academy Memberships HERE. About The Author Pat Simes is an entrepreneur, a blogger and Founder of Innovative Business Solutions and Innovate Academy. She currently resides in the Midwest and is committed to inspiring and empowering entrepreneurs to transform their vision to reality.  There's an old saying that there's nothing new under the sun and, unfortunately, this is true. Many new businesses search endlessly for that one profitable niche that nobody has found yet, and this is time wasted. You need to find a profitable niche, but you don't need to reinvent the wheel. Here's how you find a good niche that will bring you success in business. An Evergreen Niche The best niches are "evergreen." This means that it's not something that's just popular now, but something that people will be into years from now. You'll do a great deal of work setting up your business. If the trends change and your audience leaves you, you'll have done all of that work for nothing. High Demand Choose a niche that has high demand. This means that there's a great deal of engagement. People online are actively talking about it and searching for solutions. For example, if you see social media groups talking about this topic, this is a sign that you have a good niche. You can also use these groups to learn about your market and to promote your product or service. People Are Paying Money for It Look for products in the niche that are already selling. There are some niches that are popular with a great deal of engagement, but no one is buying anything. For a niche to be profitable, people need to be purchasing products or services. One way to assess this is to look at products in the niche on Amazon or affiliate networks. Problems and Solutions The best products and services are those that solve problems. Look for niches where people are discussing their problems and looking for solutions. Most of the time, people want ways to save time, money, or stress in their daily lives or businesses. When you find problems you can solve, you can step in and offer your answer. If you do this right, you're virtually assured sales. Competition Competition is actually a good thing when you're looking for a profitable niche. It tells you that there's money in it. If there are other companies selling products here, it means people are paying. The key is to do something unique in the niche that sets you apart from the competition. Prior Knowledge Helps It's helpful if you know something about the niche already. It'll save you time. However, this isn't totally necessary. As you immerse yourself in the topic, you'll learn about it and become an expert in no time. But if you're something of an expert already, this cuts corners. The Money vs. Passion Balance Although you want to choose a niche that you're passionate about, you need to make sure it's profitable. So, there's a balance that must be struck between passion and profitability. Try to find something you love that also has money in it. Do you want to learn more about starting a business successfully? If you want to get started now turning your vision into reality, check out the Entrepreneurship Basics Course in Innovate Academy Memberships HERE. It leads you step-by-step through the process of starting and launching your business. About The Author Pat Simes is an entrepreneur, a blogger and Founder of Innovative Business Solutions and Innovate Academy. She currently resides in the Midwest and is committed to inspiring and empowering entrepreneurs to transform their vision to reality.  What sets entrepreneurs apart from other people is their unique mindset. They're passionate and dedicated, and they think outside the box. These unique traits aren't something you're born with. You can learn the mindset you need to become a successful entrepreneur. Face Challenges Entrepreneurs see fear as a challenge. In fact, to be an entrepreneur, you need to love challenges. Facing down challenges is how you grow and successful business people know this. If you’re new to this, then take baby steps and move just a little outside your comfort zone bit by bit. Try to remember the first time you got up and gave a presentation or sang in front of other people. It might have been terrifying at first, but once you'd done it a number of times, it wasn’t so bad. Learn from Everything Entrepreneurs see absolutely everything as a learning experience. This includes both successes and failures. In fact, errors and mistakes teach you much more than your successes do. When you fail, you can analyze the failure and figure out what went wrong so that you can do it right the next time. A successful person gets their ego out of the way. They know that if a launch flops, it's not because of them but something wrong with the product or service or the marketing. Focus on Problem Solving Entrepreneurs focus on solving problems. This is how they're able to create such great products and services. They listen to people and grasp the challenges they're facing, and then get to work looking for solutions. A customer facing a problem will happily pay for a product or service that solves it. Network All the Time and Everywhere A successful business owner needs to know many different people in many different fields. These valuable contacts can offer you their expertise and help when you need it. For this reason, entrepreneurs talk to everyone everywhere they go and see every person as a potential contact. This includes people outside of their industry. You never know what kind of person might be valuable to know. If you want to grow your business, get in the habit of getting out of your orbit and meeting new people. Think Beyond the Weekly Paycheck Workers are used to being paid for their time or what they produce, but entrepreneurs take a longer-term view. An entrepreneur doesn't work for their pay. They build a system that generates revenue. In order to be an entrepreneur, you have to break out of the "working for pay" mindset. Action, Not Words Finally, entrepreneurs take action. Of course, they have to plan and they plan very well, but when it's time to act, they can act decisively. An entrepreneur knows that you learn as you get out there and do it, not as you sit at a desk. If you want to learn how to build a successful business from the bottom up, check out the Memberships in Innovate Academy HERE. The Entrepreneurship Basics Course teaches you everything you need to know and breaks it down with action steps. Find out about the Memberships HERE. About the Author Pat Simes writes blogs, is an entrepreneur, and Founder of Innovative Business Solutions and Innovative Business Coaching. She currently resides in the Midwest and is committed to inspiring and empowering entrepreneurs through training and coaching to fully manifest their business vision. |
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