Branding your business online: get the new rules

The Inc. magazine recently posted this article about the new rules when talking about branding your business online. Customers are no longer paying attention to the design of a website but they want an interactive website where they can access information in one click. Here are the new rules:

1. Don’t just start the conversation; because it is not enough to post something and leave it afterward. customers want you to interact with them, reply to their questions and you have to be active in branding your business

2. Either keep your personal brand out of it… it is very hard to grow when nobody knows you. Unless you have a great idea that would change our life as a customer, don't do anything because you might be failing.

3. …or dive in and make all the headlines you can. In other terms, talk, talk and talk about your business, your products, the benefits of your business. You must appear to get known.

4. Don’t favor edge over consistency. You'd rather grow slowly but surely at a constant speed than to grow in one shot and increase your turnover too fast and risking to fail shortly.

5. Be persistent in finding and targeting your niche. The market is full of segments and different customers; nobody acts the same way when buying something. This is why you need to find your target, and try to keep it but don't change your niche every year it won't be efficient.

6. Excel at telling your customers “About Us.” As I said before, customers want to know everything about you in one click, thus if your "about us" page does not say anything or is incomplete, they will not linger on your business.

7. Fully integrate social media into your site. We are in a social media era, then use it and create traffic on your web page.

8. Monitor your brand’s reputation, and be ready to respond. Never leave a complaint unanswered. If you don't control what's been said about you, you could loose customers because they would think that you don't care about their satisfaction.

9. Showcase your best work. Be credible to your customers and show them that you can do a great job (in your field). However, don't do it too much, don't boast.

Finally, I would add a last rule: Don't lie! Customers will always realize if you are lying and they won't trust you anymore; moreover, they will let the other clients know about it.