If you’re in the process of getting your startup off the ground today, it might be fair to say that without using technology to the fullest, you knowingly set yourself up for years of hardship.
Whatever your business endeavor is, technology can make it faster, easier, and most likely cheaper. Just look at Whitney Wolfe Herd, who co-founded her first unicorn Tinder and then repeated the success with Bumble a few years later. Or Sophia Amoruso, who grew her Nasty Gal retailer revenue more than 100 times in just three years.
All this was possible due to the new technological aspects of those startups. Below, we’ll take the top five tech strategies and break them down so you can use them to supercharge your own business right now.
Create and promote your e-commerce website
Whether you sell services or products online, a robust e-commerce website is a must. Because when it comes to processing payments, your website should be as trustworthy as it can get.
Luckily, these days, even custom websites require little financial investment. Platforms like Shopify allow you to choose from thousands of themes, tailor them to your liking, and start selling your goods, all for as low as $30 a month.
Think in terms of a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) when you start out. Prove the concept first in the real world before funneling all your budget into it. And if you need some help in spreading the word, Shopify offers wonderful integrations with Facebook Ads and Google Smart Shopping too.
Build authentic social media presence
When you have no budget for paid ads, don’t worry. Paid engagement levels fall far behind the organic ones anyway. Organic meaning you reaching out to your audience directly through social media.
Only have a small following so far? Then start working on it right away — it’s free! Pick a channel that fits your target audience the best, whether that’s Instagram, YouTube, or Twitter, and get active on it. Post daily, post authentically. Share the passion you have for your project and eventually it’s likely to spread. Build your Instagram by using follower-growing tool SocialCaptain, just like many others. Source.
Note: social media takes time, so don’t give up. Once you have a sizeable audience, the subsequent ROI will be outstanding.
Leverage content marketing for the right audience
Another great and virtually free idea for attracting more people over to your brand is writing something useful for them.
Here’s how to go about it. Make a list of all websites your target audience frequents and topics that are interesting to them. Then write personal essays on those subjects and offer them to those websites free of charge. The idea is that you’d get in front of your audience and they will follow you, turning into customers later on.
Another idea is applying to speak at various conferences where your target audience might be present. There’s no better way at establishing leadership in the industry then taking over the stage and talking about your experience firsthand.
Create how-to articles and videos for your blog
One of the most important aspects of successful websites is that they never feel static. Most frequently this means maintaining a blog or even an online magazine so people have a reason to come back, read, and hopefully buy more.
In addition, if you write about something people are searching for in Google, your website would come up in their queries, connecting them to your cause.
Alternatively, think about creating a YouTube channel with simple videos that mix answers to most popular questions with walking through how your products can solve your audience’s problems. You can even add another layer to your videos and write about them on your blog, thus getting the best of both worlds.
Boost overall productivity
First thing first, if your startup doesn’t feel hectic yet, it’s about to be. And when things are flying at you from all sides, the last thing you want to do is spend hours trying to find out the best tool for photo retouching or making GIFs. You need to have something that takes care of all these daily issues so you can focus on the big picture. Setapp is a platform of over 130 Mac apps and utilities that help your team solve their recurring problems with ease.
In the end, running your own business opens a lot of doors in terms of opportunities but also puts on you the weight of responsibility. So think through all your decisions with regards to financial gain, but don’t forget to experiment, as sometimes the outcome you seek might hide in the craziest ideas. Most importantly, equip yourself and your team with the latest apps they need to do their work. Today it pays to be tech savvy!
