How to look like a real company when marketing offline?
Most of us always wonder when we sell our services offline do we need a website, business cards, letterhead etc. Being online we can forget how the offline business world is. This is some good info on How to build business presence and stand out from the crowd. It involves a small investment.
Here is where I say you start
1.Register your company in your state of residence or use rocket lawyer or legal zoom. Cost is Usually like $60-$100(This can be optional until you start making money)
2.Get a tax ID#/EIN from Irs.gov
3.Go to go daddy and purchase a domain name with your company name$9.99
4.Purchase Hosting from hostgator.$7.99
5.Go to Google email and create a business account to use @yourdomain.com email address $5.00/Month
6.Get a Word Press theme and build a nice site for yourself or hire another warrior here to do so. No More than $200. Have a budget
7.The next thing you need to do is create a Facebook page for your business or product, not a personal page a business page.
8.I would also say get yourself a 1800 number with/or some other virtual number that can forward calls to you so you don't give out your
9.This option is solely so you don't give out your home address, this looks Extremely unprofessional. Get a Virtual Address or mailbox where you can use the address for your mail and stationary. Also this can be a place where you can offer clients to meet you and close the deal. I suggest using Regus
10.Also get a FedEx Business account as well as a Kinkos account. This is very simple to do and you wont have to pay for your mail campaigns upfront. Use it when printing all those direct mailers.
11.Go to the bank of your choice with your LLC filing papers as well as your Tax ID and open a Business checking account. I recommend Wells Fargo as they give you an incoming and outgoing account for easy accounting tracking as well as many other accounting features on the online banking.
12.Hire a decent designer for your company logo, business card and stationary. Upload to your chosen printer. Get a decent amount of each.
13.To add an extra touch I would say to order those polo shirts from Vista Print with your company logo embroidered. We often want to know what to wear when we meet with clients. A nice polo, pair of nice khakis and shoes. We are in the IT/IM/OM world casual will be fine especially if you follow this to a T and use the virtual office for meetings.
14. NOW LASTLY OFFER YOUR TALENTS AND SERVICES TO OFFLINE BUSINESSES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Bonus Options
*CRM Software to manage client projects
*Paypal Business Account
*Virtual Assistant
*Sales Copy for direct mail campaigns
*YouTube Videos
*Google AdWords for local business search for some leads
No matter what service you are offering this will give your business a Full Presence that you should build onto as you make money and grow your company. Think long term and build brand authority.
In a moment of decision the best thing you can do is the right thing. The worst thing you can do is nothing. ~ Theodore Roosevelt
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