Marketing tips for the home business

How to make your new home business grow

Today’s guest post from BT covers a range of ways to market a new home business:

The internet has made it easier than ever to start a business in your spare room, and the number of self-employed people working from home is growing faster than ever. If you want to get in on the action or boost your sales, you’ll want to know the three essential marketing tips every home business should follow. 

Virtual shop fronts
Almost a quarter of all businesses registered with the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) operate from the owner’s home, so you’re in good company. With fast broadband and growing consumer reliance on the internet to source products and services, Britain’s most successful home business shop fronts are now virtual, and effective marketing strategies make full use of the World Wide Web.

Tip #1: get yourself a website and make sure it’s a good one!
The UK is thought to have the most internet-based economy in the world. Therefore, your primary marketing tool for your home business should be your website, whatever you are selling.

Of course, most start-ups are operating on a small budget but fortunately there are a number of companies offering affordable professional template-based websites, as well as bespoke ones for those with more to spend.

Choose a package that provides you with a great-looking website that is mobile-friendly, has social media integration, and allows you to add additional pages and information as your business grows.

Tip #2: network, network, network 
There are numerous local business organisations that provide free networking events for the self-employed. These are a great way to get yourself known and drum up trade, whether directly from the other self-employed people in attendance or the people they sing your praises to.

Social media sites, meanwhile, are the virtual answer to networking. Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn are fantastic free ways to strengthen your online presence and make it easier for Google searchers to find out about you. Make sure you tweet and post updates on a regular basis to create fresh interest in your product or service.

Tip #3: use PPC
The quickest way to drive traffic to your website is to use pay-per-click advertising (PPC). A well-planned and managed PPC campaign is the quickest way to make sure searchers entering keywords relevant to your company find your website.

PPC adverts are placed above and beside Google listings on every page, and advertisers only pay when a searcher clicks on the advert, making PPC one of the most cost-effective forms of advertising available. However, the effectiveness of a PPC campaign depends on choosing the right keywords to ensure your advert only appears in relevant search results for people who are actively looking for your product or service.

Keep at it
Keep on top of your website, get networking and run your PPC campaign well and you can expect to increase your home business customer base in no time!