Estimates put the number of blogs between 200 and 250 million. There are literally millions of businesses and services offered online in a number of markets. So how in the world are you ever going to get found? Take advantage of the following ideas, tips, tricks and strategies to stand out online and improve your market share, sales and profits.
· Be everywhere. This is the strategy that blogger and podcaster Pat Flynn has used to build a six figure a month online business empire.
· Be consistent. When your followers know that you produce a brand new podcast episode every Monday, a value-rich blog post every Wednesday and have a free Question and Answer webinar every Friday, that consistency will pay off.
· Be available. If you really want to stand out from the competition, make yourself available to anyone and everyone.
· Develop a business plan, follow it, and stop chasing the "next big thing" or shiny object.
· Specialize. When you niche down to a laser targeted market, instead of trying to be all things to everyone, your business will grow.
· Be uniquely yourself. You are the only "you" in the world. People love someone who is genuine, so be genuinely yourself.
· Provide tons of usable value. If you show someone how to solve a big problem in their life, that person is going to be dedicated to you and your business.
· Develop a memorable brand. Your logo, company catch-phrase and personality need to be memorable to stand out from the crowd.
· Interact with the online community. Be present and approachable on social media, chat rooms, forums and elsewhere on the web.
· Stop publishing garbage. Before you publish that blog post or social media update, ask yourself, "Is this valuable?" If not, keep writing until it is.
· Be controversial. Some of the most successful online and off-line advertisements were outrageous, controversial and thought-provoking.
· Do something different. If your main competitors are zigging, then zag. If a product they are offering, similar to one of yours, is in the same price range, drop your price 30% lower. Do something different than your competitors and you will get noticed.
· Start a podcast. There are more than 1,000 blogs for every podcast online. Chances are, you will be one of the few business owners in your niche to produce a regularly scheduled podcast.