Solo entrepreneurs are confused about web presence, how to do it, what it will do, what it won't. I know this, I am one and I was confused. Because of our ignorance, we are at risk for spending money unnecessarily on sites, search engine optimization, paid directories and the like, or at even greater risk of not being there at all. There are numbers to back this up from very a-list sources like Marketing Sherpa and Flyte and Debbie Weil's Blog Write.
It's important to understand the principles of why and how before we reach into our pockets to spend on Internet presence. Let's be findable first, whether people are looking for us in particular or someone like us in general. (And of those two groups, are they buying online or showing up in person? More to come on that!) Doesn't it make sense to be findable first for the people who are looking for us physically and locally? And doesn't it also make sense to have a simple, forthright Internet presence even though almost nobody knows where the internet will go and when? So that's Step One. Be there for the people who want to find you locally. Now.
Simple enought to brainstorm that process. My name is Susan Lucas. I am a photographer based in Charleston, SC. I also create emotional and artistic portraits of people, as well as art prints, greeting cards and calendars. I spend an inordinate amount of time trying to figure out things like marketing my work on the internet, in galleries, in stores and through other venues. Assuming someone is looking for me on the internet, didn't I just cover all the bases? Good. Searchers look for all the above and generally find me or my stuff on page one of Google, Yahoo, MSN or some other directory they're using to find. Note that I named all the big internet directories--not yellow pages or white pages or local city and town directory pages because those directories were not born on the Internet and they do not have the root function of internet search engines as their first priority. They are commercial enterprises created separately with you as a customer. When someone searches the net for you, the paid directories are only competition (and distracting competition at that) for your own site. The trick is to put your own site there and make it findable above the directories because you are the one and only original you!
I'm betting on this with Tecchia, for my business and for giving back. I am weaving a presence, history and findablity on the internet that changes regularly. I am there.
