Starting an online business

[skylovessea]

My DH recently suggested that I start selling my services as a professional organizer and am in the process of making a website. There is practically no cost to start this type of business, which is definitely a plus. The most I will have to buy is a filing box and folders for my client's records, project reports, receipts, etc.

If anyone has any ideas on how to make this the best it can be, feel free to let me know. I'm really anxious to get it up and running!

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

Do you mean you would offer services tailored to each client individually? Hard for me to imagine how clients would think you could do that online. So I think a major thing your site would have to include is evidence that you can do something for them without ever seeing their problems and space in person.

Do you know who you competition is? There are a lot of forums and websites that take a big stab at organizing the home and office. You need to make it clear to potential client how you would be more beneficial than those. On the other hand, perhaps you could even advertise on some of those existing sites.

I think you had better have a website that is extremely well organized and easy for the user to understand and navigate. Your website will be evidence of just how good you are at your job---so have others test the site before you go live with it.

[skylovessea]

Originally Posted by Joan.of.the.Arch

Do you mean you would offer services tailored to each client individually? Hard for me to imagine how clients would think you could do that online.

Do you know who you competition is?

I think you had better have a website that is extremely well organized and easy for the user to understand and navigate.

Sorry, I should have been more specific.

I will be providing hands-on services and online services. The hands-on services will be local only. I live in a fairly high populated area, so that client base should turn out pretty big (eventually).

My services wiill be as follows:

Organizing
Budgeting
Time Management

I am offering free consultations which will result in a price quote.


I have done some research on my competition, and so far the only problem is, like you said, free forums and websites. I am working on getting some testimonials from previous clients when I used to do this locally for extra money. (It was previously just a service listed on CL)

I am very HTML savvy and I'm not releasing the website until it is perfect. My DH is working by my side as basically a judge to let me know if everything looks good, sounds right, and functions perfectly.

[mommyof4]

I would love to see the site when you have it up and running. I wish you the best of luck!

[skylovessea]

Originally Posted by mommyof4

I would love to see the site when you have it up and running. I wish you the best of luck!

I'll definitely keep everyone updated!! Do you know if it would be allowed to put a link to my business in my signature?

[skylovessea]

Here is a link to my business! It's up and running. Now I just wait!

http://NoMessStress.weebly.com

-crosses fingers-

[Russell]

Nicole,

It's a good start but a few suggestions:

1. You need more content on your site, as a customer I like to understand exactly how the services will be performed. Use a couple of senarios for each service you offer

2. Use the same fonts and size on each page

3. I think you should use a more catchy webpage template for example: PixelGreen by ealigam

4. Look into adding graphics and pictures for each page

5. The Meta tags look OK

6. Get your own domain name

Gotta make that first impression. Best of luck to you.

[mom-from-missouri]

I like the site, but I think pictures of something well organized would help, such as a desk, office, inside of a file drawer. I am a big one in "before and after" photos.

[disneysteve]

I don't think the statement "recently became a professional organizer" is the best wording. I'd take out the word "recently".

I'm a little torn on mentioning your husband's and son's names on the site. It isn't a very business-like thing to do so if you are trying to look like a serious business, I'd reconsider that. If you are going for a more informal approach as a mom just looking to make a little money on the side, then I think it works fine the way it is.

I agree with Russell that you need more info about what it is you actually do and what services you provide. Give examples (they don't need to be true, just realistic).

[SacredFaerie]

Definitely get testimonials. The service you're providing might be new to some people and seeing that others have tried it might help.

[skylovessea]

Thank you all for the great ideas. I am still working on tweaking the site to perfection, and this is definitely putting me on the right track.

[mom-from-missouri]

I think there is a need on several levels. I sometimes see ads on craigslists for people wanting someone to come in and clean, organize one specific room of their home-usually a kids room, laundry or kitchen or office.

My problem is I can organize yours just fine, but for the life of me I can't do my own!!!

My daughter and niece sometimes trade and clean each others bedrooms when they visit each other.....

[snowboardebater]

Just make sure you get adsense... you'll be glad you did.

[DFrancis]

One of the most important things to do correctly from the start is to have good quality content on your site. This will help you rank higher on search engines in a more timely manner. Look into getting help from someone who knows about SEO to help. You can find a freelancer on odesk.com.

-Best

[nim3]

You need unique content to rank high. Also your site should look professional. Get someone to create the site and build backlinks for you. Also be carefule with adsense placement, it may make your site look tacky depeding on what your offering.

[unsecuredmoneygroup]

I'm very new here but thought I'd offer some advice for your website from my own experience working on seo for my company's website.

If you don't have the money to spend on outsourcing your seo then there's a few basic things you can do to build backlinks I work on on a regular basis during my work hours.

Forums like these, with strong communities and content related to your niche are helpful. You develop good relationships with the community and post relevant, useful information that actually helps people or contributes to the conversation and most forums are willing to allow you to place your link in your signature after proving to them that you haven't joined solely for the sake of promoting your business. These relationships often take time to build, you know that obviously, as you have a few posts here yourself. These links aren't huge for seo, but you'll give and receive a lot of useful information in the process and every little bit helps.

Web directory submission is also another technique that takes a bit of time but has decent payoffs within a few months. Spending 25-30 hours of time using the many semi-automated submission tools that one can find online can net you over 1000 dofollow links that will slowly trickle in over the weeks to months required by the application process of various directories. Some of the higher PR directories will charge for linking you but you can easily find hundreds of PR 5 and below free directories if investing in backlinks is not your style. Check seo forums for links to good submission tools and tips on how to maximize the rate your link is accepted.

Keep advertising on craigslist to drive traffic. There are many tools to maximize your ad output and you have the option to employ some of the more blackhat methods to post 50-100 ads a day consistently. You can purchased pre phone verified accounts or purchase forwarded phone numbers for half the price and verify them yourself for use in posting. Craigslist marketing if properly implemented can net you huge profits.
This isn't really applicable for you since your business is local and advertising cross-country doesn't do you any good, but when it comes to the quality of your ad content you must plan carefully.

Keep keyword density in ads (and any other promotional content you are going to publish anywhere), to a maximum of 10%, otherwise you risk having google de-index you. Use images and well-designed, professional advertisments. Google is fond of Q&A type content. Research and target good keywords with unique ads. For more backlinks, write keyword-targeted, quality articles and press releases and submit those to article directories and press release sites. You might also look into PPC(pay per click) initially to buy some hits. Getting indexed quickly and building quality, long-term links is key. Don't flood your site with clicks though, as Google's algorithm is more sophisticated since the recent patent and is suspicious of sudden amounts of high traffic and floods of links.

To wrap it up, I'd have to agree with my predecessors in saying content is key. Having a well-organized, professional, organized, and relevant, useful site is one of the best ways to get google to recognize you and your site and maximize your profit.

EDIT: I forgot to mention that you absolutely NEED to get your own domain.