Here’s What I Would Do Differently If I Had To Start My Online Business Again
I created the Rich Girl Guide almost 5 years ago and a LOT has changed since then. In this post, I will share what I would do differently if I had to go back and start my online business all over again.
The tips that I will share are designed to make the process of starting your online business easier and quicker than it took me to reach where I am today.
I would build a solid foundation before building traffic
One of the biggest mistakes that I made when I started The Rich Girl Guide was jumping straight to traffic and sales before I had finished building the foundation of my business.
What did this mean?
It meant that people that came to my website through my organic traffic methods didn’t convert. This was because my business didn’t look (or feel) like a trustworthy business.
I had no disclaimers or company information, no clear branding or messaging and my website looked amateur. This drove people away and made it a lot more difficult to see results.
If I had to start again, I would spend time developing a robust business strategy and following this step-by-step before investing anytime into traffic or sales.
Yes. Generating traffic is very exciting. However, it won’t get you anywhere if your online business doesn’t look like a business.
I would focus on my audience rather than any kind of algorithm
Whether you’re trying to grow on the web or on social media, it can seem like pleasing the algorithm is the be-all and end-all of success in your online business.
I made the mistake of thinking this at first and found myself to be VERY wrong.
By making content with the algorithm in mind, it becomes very easy to lose your brand voice, authenticity, and genuine value. This will lead to traffic that doesn’t convert.
It’s all very good getting to position 1 on Google. But, if no one clicks your links or buys your products’ what’s the point? The same goes for social media content that might reach a LOT of viewers but doesn’t translate into any valuable engagement.
Instead, try to focus your efforts on pleasing your audience. What would your audience find more valuable and what would encourage them to press ‘buy’? Probably not keyword stuffing or trending hashtags.
Here’s what I’m doing right now to make sure that my content is catered to my audience:
I am adding personality into my blog posts.
I am showing my face on my socials and posting content that will actually help my followers rather than posting content with the aim of going ‘viral’.
I am establishing myself as an authority by sharing my personal story.
This is not to say that you should throw SEO out of the window! Instead, try to find a balance between creating content that your audience WANTS and creating content that will gain good exposure.
I would do all of the boring stuff first
By boring stuff, I mean the strenuous admin that most new online business owners ignore until they literally can’t escape it!
The admin that comes with starting an online business in the UK isn’t exactly riveting and is easy to over look at the start. However, putting it off until a later date could make it much more difficult for your business to grow.
If I had to start my online business again, I would make sure to properly do all of the admin at the start. That means:
Registering your online business with HMRC.
Create sheets to track your finances.
Sorting out payment methods (if you have an online store).
Setting up a business email.
Registering to pay tax.
Creating a target audience profile.
Creating an online business plan.
People often don’t realise the amount of work that goes into properly setting up an online business. That’s why I created The Rich Girl’s Guide to Starting an Online Business so that you don’t miss any crucial steps.
I would avoid shortcuts
One of the biggest mistakes that I made when starting an online business was taking shortcuts to try and speed up results.
Making money from an online business takes TIME, which can be very frustrating - especially after spending hours setting everything up. For this reason, shortcuts can be very tempting to new business owners.
However, in my experience, every shortcut that I have taken has harmed by business in one way or another. My biggest mishap was when I added ads to my website too quickly and lost ALL of my organic search traffic!
This set my growth back by months and was extremely devastating at first. However, I learned my lesson.
Other common shortcuts that online business owners take is paid traffic, black-hat SEO, clickbait content and spammy social media practices.
If you want your online business to do well long-term, you may have to sacrifice short term results.
The Verdict
This marks the end of my brief overview of what I would do differently if I had to start my online business again. I think one of the most useful things that you can do as an entrepreneur is learn from others’ mistakes. Bookmark this blog post so that you can come back to it when you start your own online business.
Even better, why not send this post to someone you know who may find it helpful?
