The Simplest Way to Stand Out in 2020

“Never forget that you only have one opportunity to make a first impression – with investors, with customers, with PR, and with marketing.”

Natalie Massenet,

Founder, Net-A-Porter

and Member of the Order of the British Empire

It’s a new year, a new quarter and you’ve got big goals for the year. You want to reach more people, convert more customers, make more money. You may make a great impression when you meet people in person or interact with customers and clients, but is your online marketing doing the same?

Want to hear the scariest statistics you’ll read all day? Here goes:

It takes a person 0.05 seconds to form an opinion about your website, and 75% of people say they judge a company’s credibility based on what its website looks like. (Source)

What does that mean?

It means that in an almost indeterminable amount of time, your potential customers are deciding whether they’ll stick around to learn more about you and determine if they want to do business with you. In short, they are judging how good you are at your work, simply by what they see on the screen.

So, what is your website saying to them?

Is it telling people how great you really are? Does it show that your clients love you, and that they’ll love you too? Are you communicating how well you can solve their problem?

Or… does it still have the same message from three years ago? Does it look dated? Is it still loading poorly on mobile devices?

What about social media? Is it a beast that is so hungry that you just can’t keep up? Are you posting regularly for a week, then letting multiple weeks or even months go by without engaging with, or even talking to, people who just might be your best customers? Do you even know where your best customers spend time online?

No shame.

Look, there’s no shame in admitting that social media isn’t your thing. We know just as well as you do that life as a business owner is unspeakably busy and demanding. However, we also know that it’s not the best practice for a business operating in 2020. Something has to change, or you’ll lose out on the opportunity to talk to the 70% of people who are now actively using social media. (Source)

While we wish this stuff didn’t matter as much, the reality is that it’s time to make sure your online identity stays updated. We can hope and wish that networking, referrals, and word-of-mouth would get our business where we want it to be, but it just won’t. Even if someone raves about you to a potential client, that client is going to check you out online first. Are you ready?

Look, we love it when our clients outsource to a virtual assistant the traditional administrative tasks like email and bookkeeping. It helps tremendously. But bringing in new business with your website and online presence is just as important as the traditional admin tasks. That’s why we are seeing a major increase in the number of clients asking for our help in freshening up websites, updating branding, and making sure social media is consistent, targeted, and engaging.

Ready to make a great first impression? To stand out in a sea of competition and finally be the business online that you are in person? We’d love to help you make it happen. Make 2020 the year your first impression becomes the best impression.