Your Business is Official, Now What?

Congratulations! You started a business! Now, it is time to let the world know about it!

Where do you start?

This is an exciting time! Getting your online presence off the ground should not be stressful...

It is really no scarier than these two adorable ghosts.

Take a breath.

To help you navigate this journey, I have created this easy-peasy checklist. Using this checklist will help you knock-out each step you need to consider taking. Also, most of these steps are FREE!

• Identify your brand

  • Have a logo and various versions of it ready to use.

  • Know what colors and font(s) you will use across your platforms and stationery. You want to stay consistent as much as possible.

  • If you don’t know where to start, ask for help. This is important in establishing your organization’s identity.

• Create an email - FREE options available

  • Do you want to have a custom address?

  • Will a gmail, yahoo, or other address suffice for your company?

• Create a Google My Business account - This is FREE!

  • If you have a brick & mortar, this is imperative for customers to find you on Maps.

• Create social media accounts (using a consistent handle for each one) - This is FREE! Consider each platform and which ones are right for your customer-base.

  • Facebook (3 billion users)

  • Instagram (2 billion users)

  • X (541 million users) - formerly Twitter

  • YouTube (2.5 billion users)

  • LinkedIn (<350 million users)

  • Pinterest (465 million users)

  • Snapchat (750 million users)

  • TikTok (1.2 billion users)

  • Reddit (430 million users)

  • Threads (100 million users)

• Create a website - FREE options available

  • Anymore, it should not cost an arm and a leg to create and maintain a website. You want your own landing page to tell customers you are legitimate and give you total power/control over your online, public appearance and messaging.

  • If this scares you, let me show you how easy and pain-free a website should really be.

• Create a way to organize and send mass emails

  • Mailchimp - FREE options available

  • Intuit/Constant Contact

  • Squarespace - for those who have a Squarespace site, you can add your email campaigns right to your website account

  • Again, if this scares you, I can help you get this set-up for easy maintenance.

• Tie all of your accounts together! Wherever possible, connect and/or link your various accounts.

• Update your email signature and link your various pages to your email signature.

• Create and Schedule social media post to let folks know that you are still alive. You can tie various accounts together to be able to do

  • Meta Business Suite - ties Facebook and Instagram

  • Hootsuite - FREE if you only tie three platforms to this account

• Good extra marketing ideas to consider

  • Creating QR codes (website, email, etc.)

  • Business cards (include information and possibly QR codes)

  • If applicable, setup online payment options for your clients

I hope this list is a help for someone out there who is just looking for an easy reference on what to do next…. That is what this is for.

Fear kills more dreams than failure.

The fact that you are have started your own business is fact enough that you have what it takes to make your business a success! Some of these first steps are important to letting people know about your business and showing them what you have to offer. You don’t have to do it alone, if you don’t want to. Let me know if there is anything I can do to help.

Please don’t let your dream die from fear.

You’ve got this!