You want to start a small business, now what?

Purchase a domain name for your website.
For example, our domain is dotmarketingsd.com. You only need one domain that is easy for your potential customers to remember.

Have a logo created.
Logos should be simple and easy to identify, this will be your brand. You want the logo to be able to be easy to duplicate on signs, embroidery and any other promotional items.

Create your Google My Business Listing.
To generate local, online traffic, setting up your FREE Google My Business Listing is a must. It could take a week to get your listing live, you will want to start this as soon as you have established your business name, address and phone number.

Set up a website.
I would recommend hiring a professional so you don’t waste any time, effort or money and it gets properly set up so your business can be found. A website can be simple to start and then continue adding to it as you get the business going. It is recommended to look at your website as a living, breathing document of your business. Keeping it updated and changing as your business evolves will ensure you continue to attract the customers you are looking for.

Create social media pages.
Depending on your type of business, this may be very very important or not important at all. It will be important to know your target customer and where they are looking. A restaurant or hair salon would do well with social media, but an attorney may need to do nothing more than set up a page. Some of the more popular platforms are Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest and LinkedIn.

Google Ads
Your potential customers are already searching on Google for your type of product or service. This makes Google Ads a great place to advertise your business when you are first getting started. Your business ad will end up on the top of the search results and give your business a great start to generating leads.

Email Marketing
Email is a great way to communicate with loyal and focused customers about what is going on in your business. Eventually you will have a huge list of customers and potential customers emails who are interested in the products or services you offer. You will only get that list if you start early on collecting emails though.

Business Cards/Brochures
As soon as you have a logo, phone number, email and a domain name, getting your business cards and brochures ready to go will be important so you can begin networking and letting people know about your new business. A simple, professional looking design will make your information easy to read and leave a good impression of your business.