Are you tired of posting your product and services online with little or no results? Me too! How frustrating! What tires me most is when people enquire and back out when I mention the price. I remember posting my services on Jiji even after putting my price; they still called to ask for the price.

I was assuming that posting my services online will get customers rushing into my inbox. Taking your business online requires diligence and strategy for so many reasons. Like you won't open your store anywhere, also you don't take your business online.

How then do you take your business online and get leads? I will share 3 tips on how to take your business online and get leads. Leads are persons or business who may become a client. They are more likely to become clients because they have an interest in your business. How do you get them?

TIP 1: CREATE AN ONLINE MARKETING STRATEGY

To do this it is vital we answer the following questions
1. What do you do?

2. Who are your target audience?

3. Where do they hang out online?

4. How do you reach out to them?

You can search Google for resources to guide you in answering these questions. Once you have done that the next thing is to create a content plan. In online marketing content is KING. It validates you as a trusted authority in your business.

Your focus is not a one-time sale but a continuous sale with lots of referrals. So how do you create an effective content plan?

1. Determine the purpose(s) of your content: Is it to entertain, educate, inform or sell?

2. Decide what your content form: It can either be an article, infographics, audio or in video form. Study shows that videos get more engagements.

3. Create an online calendar: Don't post anything, anytime and anywhere. Create a content calendar instead. Trello, Evernote and Hubspot are great tools for that.

TIP 2: ESTABLISH YOUR PRESENCE ONLINE

It is either you are going online for the first time, or rebranding your current online presence. You need to be on most social media platform especially the Big Four: Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter.

Put your business on online directories like Google My Business, Yahoo Business etc.
Owning a website and building an email list is essential. John Obidi calls this your own property online.

When opening all these ensure your profile picture is a good headshot of you. It should communicate who you are and what you do. It should also be consistent across all social media platform you are on. Your name and description of your online account should communicate your business.

TIP 3: AUTOMATE YOUR CONTENT MARKETING

Do you have the time to post content on a regular basis? Of course not! Yet it is necessary you post content on a regular basis. What if you do not have the money yet to hire an online business manager or digital marketing agency. What then do you do?

Since by now your content plan is ready, automate it instead. Automation will keep your online presence relevant while you are away. Agora Pulse, Buffer, CrowdFire and Hootsuite are examples of top automation tools.

They have free plans to start with till when you begin making money. Then you can subscribe to their premium plans to increase effectiveness and results.

Those are the 3 tips on how to take your business online and get leads. Do you know of any other tip? Feel free to share in the comment section below!