When your business is home-based, it can be difficult to present your company in a way that clients will take seriously. Despite your expertise, with no physical office space, acquiring larger contracts can be challenging. Even if you are confident that you can manage the workload with the resources at your disposal, customers may be turned off at the prospect of working with a one-person operation over a company that appears more sizable.
But fear not! Here are five easy ways to make your home business seem bigger than it really is.
It’s all about you
Purchase decisions are often made based on how personable and trustworthy you are. This means you should focus on developing a strong company ethos—but don’t let it stop there. Brand your company—and yourself.
If you are the sole employee, think about how to present yourself in a way that will make clients feel comfortable trusting you with their business. Make sure you outline your experience and qualifications, and where possible, mention some clients you’ve worked with previously to put them at ease. Maintain and update your social media profiles on a regular basis, too, and don’t post anything unprofessional. Make sure the social media profile for your business is separate from your personal life or contains no content that could turn off potential customers.
For home businesses that employ staff, include them on your website’s ‘about us’ page. Ask them to provide an image of themselves along with a short bio to inject some personality and credibility into your brand. If your business works with freelancers or outsources work to the same people on a regular basis, you can also include them as business partners on your website.
Be a social butterfly
As well as carefully considering what you post and share on your personal social media channels, putting time and effort into growing your company social media accounts can be a great way to attract new business.
Up until a few years ago, it was easy to ‘fake it til you make it’ on social media by purchasing ‘likes’ or followers. But as algorithms have become more advanced, social media platforms have grown wise to this, and are now getting good at purging bot accounts that artificially inflate follower numbers and engagement.
The best way to build up a social media following organically is to:
- Understand which platforms your potential customers use—there’s no point posting on LinkedIn if all of your customers are using Instagram, for example
- Look at what competitors in your niche are doing. What are they posting and sharing? How can you adopt this strategy and do it better?
- Create a plan to map out content you can share on social media in advance and research trends or hashtags that are relevant to your business
- Join the conversation—look for people asking for help and advice and point them in the right direction
- Follow other people. If there are industry publications, brands, clients, or influencers you can connect with and learn from—do it!
Think of your website as your storefront
For a lot of prospective clients, your website will be the first thing they will check out when deciding whether or not they want to work with you. Imagine if you were walking through your neighborhood, and saw two bakeries on the same street. One has a great display of cakes and cookies, quirky decor, an eye-catching sign and a memorable name, and the other has nothing in the window, a couple of lawn chairs out front, and a handwritten sign taped to the door. Now, the second bakery might have more delicious baked goods, but at first glance, which would you be more likely to go into?
This same principle applies to a website. If a prospect looks you up on their smartphone and can’t navigate your site properly, or if your content is full of spelling mistakes, or if your site uses low-quality images, what does that say about your business?
There are a lot of things to consider when designing a website, but as a general rule, it should:
- At a glance, explain who you are, and what your business does
- Include content that is descriptive so that you can be found in search engines—but is also written with the end user in mind—what problem can your business solve, or what does your product do better than anyone else’s?
- Showcase what you do and demonstrate your experience with compelling content, such as blog posts and case studies
- Be easy to navigate across all devices
- Load quickly
- Have calls to action (signposts directing people to perform actions, like getting in touch or filling out a form)
- Display contact details in a prominent position
Project a big company image
If you are trying to make your business appear bigger, and more professional, providing your personal cell phone number isn’t going to cut it.
Fortunately, it’s simple to set up virtual phone numbers, which offer local and toll-free numbers, with a professional answering service that re-routes calls directly to your cell phone. Not only do you not have to pay for a landline or an additional cell phone, but you’ll also be able to see whether it’s your mom calling you—or a client—all from one device.
Knowing that someone is at the end of the phone if something needs to be picked up urgently is going to be a huge benefit for customers, no matter what it is your business offers.
The proof is in the pudding
You can talk the talk—but can you walk the walk?
It’s all well and good presenting your home business in a professional manner, but potential customers are going to want proof that you can deliver on what you promise, whether you provide consultancy work, clean houses, or design clothing.
For business-to-business clients, testimonials and case studies can help. Presenting facts and figures that support the results achieved, with the customer you worked with vouching for you, is a huge plus for the majority of prospective clients.
If you work in a creative industry, an online portfolio provides a great way to show off your talents. For those selling products, asking customers to leave online reviews can boost sales considerably—to encourage them to do so, go the extra mile by offering an incentive, such as a discount, or a free gift.
Growing a home business by making it look bigger than it is will require time and effort, but in doing so, you are more likely to attract better clients, who will be willing to pay you what you are worth. Make prospects see the value in what you can offer by presenting your business in a professional light—and they never need know that you are working from the comfort of your own home rather than a corporate environment.
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