HOW TO LAUNCH AN E – SERVICE BUSINESS
HOW TO LAUNCH AN E – SERVICE BUSINESS
Are you thinking of starting up your own e – services business?
Need a basic rundown of how to go about it? Well that’s what this article is about.
An e – service business is a business operation that renders electronic and digital services such as; social media content management, search engine optimization( SEO) and search engine marketing (SEM) services, graphic design, web design and development, digital marketing and so on.
We have come a long way since the inception of the internet and since Amazon sold its first book online in 1995.
Now, the world of e – services is spinning and opening up more opportunities every day. About ninety percent of the world is on the internet, hence most businesses today are online so as to have a wider and better reach.
An e – service business serves to maximize and develop individual and online business market reach and potential, through offering services such as; content management, web design and development, digital marketing, you name it. So if you have decide to set up your own e – service business, then be rest assured that you made the right decision.
There are more than three thousand small and medium scale businesses in Nigeria, that’s how large your total addressable market is, as far as companies are concerned now, not to mention individual businesses and individual brands!
Again, I say; you’ve made a good decision for your 2018 hustle.
This article is going to give you a basic rundown of of what you need to know before you can successfully launch an e – service business in Nigeria. I hope you’ll find it a little helpful.
1. GET DIGITAL MARKETING TRAINING:
The first step to start your own e – service business is to get trained in digital marketing. Digital marketing is the promotion of products or brands on digital media.
Digital marketers are responsible for executing marketing campaigns on digital channels such as; email, website, mobile and social media to build awareness and provide information to prospects.
To become a digital marketer, it is important that you have a knowledge of marketing concepts, analytics, and also to have an overall understanding about the different areas of digital marketing.
There are so many online companies that offer good digital marketing courses and trainings, such as Simpililearn Digital Marketing Certified Association (DMCA), Digital Vidya India and so on, which courses cover the core concepts of digital marketing such as Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Social media marketing (SMM), pay – per – click ( PPC), website conversion rate optimization, web analytics, content marketing, mobile marketing, email marketing, and digital marketing strategy.
The course will also help you master tools and platforms such as Google Analytics, AdWords, Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook.
2. BUSINESS PLAN:
The next step to take to launch your e – service business is to prepare a detailed business plan. Writing a business plan is usually the first step involved in setting up any business.
Your business plan is a document that highlights your business description description, your marketing strategy, your financial budgets and projections for the business, and it also details where you want your business to be in a three to five year frame.
If you don’t know how to write a business plan, you can check online for how to write the perfect business plan sample in Nigeria, or preferably seek for professional support in doing it. Known business consultants like Adedayo Adetiloye offer business plan writing services in Nigeria and beyond, so to make good use of this opportunity, clink on this link to get started, www.dayoadetiloye.com.
When preparing your business plan, you need to make sure you have conducted a thorough market analysis for your business, and next you will need to prepare a rigorous marketing strategy to back up your marketing plan. Remember: every successful business thrives on its marketing strength.
So you’ve got to make sure you’ve got a good marketing plan in place, and an effective marketing strategy to implement your marketing plan. You need to also register your business with the Corporate Affairs Commission ( CAC) and then get your business listed on GoogleMybusiness and other relevant business directories.
Determine your target market and develop a good strategy to reach them efficiently.
3. CREATE A WEBSITE:
Once you’ve got your market and products, and you’ve also nailed down your selling process, you are now ready for your small business website creation.
You need to make sure you keep it simple, because you have just fewer than five seconds to grab a user’s attention, or else they’ll be gone. Keep these tips in mind when building your website
– Make sure your navigation is clear and simple, and is the same for every page
– Only use graphical, audio and video if they enhance your message
– Include an opt – in offer, so you can collect email addresses to create an email listing for your business
– Your website is your online store front, so make it customer friendly
– Use search engines to drive targeted audiences to your site
– Ensure that your website loads quickly and easily
– Also, make sure that your website is mobile friendly
These are just a few important tips to keep in mind when building your website. People everywhere use the internet to find information, so once you establish yourself as an expert in this field, you’re on your way to making a niche for yourself. Ensure you engage your users and strive to constantly maintain online relevance.
The secret is to always include a link to your site with each piece of information. Always give away free expert content. Create articles, videos or any other kind of content that people will find useful.
Strive to become an active expert in industry forums on social networking sites where your target market hangs out.
4. DEVELOP YOUR SERVICES:
The next important step is developing your services. Work on building your search engine optimization (SEO) skills, develop on – page practices like
– Basics of HTML
– URL, meta Tags, Hl, images
– Crawling: XML and HTML, sitemaps, Robots.txt
– Anchor texts, internal linking
– Tools: Google search console, Bing webmaster,
Google Analytics setup
Next, develop your keyword research and competitive analysis
– Keyword planning tool (search volumes, competition, business priority)
– mapping keywords to website pages
– competition analysis
Then, your SEO – friendly design and architecture
– thinking before resisting a website( goals, strategies and measurement models)
– mobile responsive/ adaptive design
– importance of HTTPPS
– site schema( rich snippets) and architecture
Next you’ll need to develop your search engine marketing services such as, search campaign creation;
– bid strategies
– cost – per – click ( CPC) bidding
– cost – per – impression( CPM)
– bidding
– cost – per – acquisition ( CPA)
– enhanced cost – per – click ( ECPC)
– keyword targeting and strategy
– keyword match types – broad phrase, broad match modifier, exact, negative
– keyword performance
– targeting methods
– display ad formats and tools
– additional advance targeting options on display
– remarketing and four types of remarketing
– four ways to remarket( custom, dynamic, customer reports,and optimizing display campaign)
– mapping display targeting methods to marketing objectives
Other services to develop include, video advertising, shopping advertising, and conversion tracking
The next major e – service you should develop is your social media marketing ( SMM). Develop a facebook marketing strategy, using algorithms, content marketing, Facebook brand pages, Facebook target options like; interest – based targeting, custom – based targeting and retargeting or Facebook exchange. For this purpose, you will need to have an understanding of the Facebook Ad structure, payment modules, ad logrithms, and all best practices for ad content. Work on your Twitter marketing and advertising and also LinkedIn marketing, social media customer care and social media tools, Instagram, Pinterest, and Snapchat marketing.
5. INVEST IN EMAIL MARKETING SERVICES:
Your business should also offer email marketing services. So what are those content of email marketing services you need to build on?
Here they are:
Deliverability:
– Setting up an email marketing machine
– ISPS,Hosting facility and MTA
– IP/ DNS and shared vs. Dedicated IPS
– MX record, white listing, response handles and bouncers
Other generalized services to develop are: effective email content, customer acquisition strategies,effective creative introducing, nurturing and automation, resources to do situational analysis and progressive updates, email automation, inbound marketing, conversion optimisation, web analytics, Google Analytics, content performance analysis, visitors analysis, digital Analytics, online reputation management(ORM), affiliate marketing, integrated digital marketing strategy, infographic resume creation services, Adobe Analytics site catalyst, growth tracking, graphic design, web design, web hosting, web development, content management, content creation you name it.
CONCLUSION
Starting up an e -service business isn’t as hard as it sounds really. You only just need to take out time and invest in building your digital skills, programming skills, web design and graphic design skills. As an entrepreneur, this is not too much, because you need to acquire as many skills as possible to be wildly successful in your business. Seek out professional help and advice. Get as many trainings as is required to help you stand out, for success. Re.e.her that e – service business may likely take another century before it gets phased out, so make good of this platform to enrich yourself and others.
Cheers!
Related