How running a business today is different than it was even 10 years ago.
Entrepreneurs have always been celebrated for their guts, drive and ability to turn great ideas into successful businesses. But the face of entrepreneurship has changed drastically over the years. Two decades ago, there was no LinkedIn or 140 character Tweets. Leads didn’t come through websites or social media, but rather from referrals, phone calls or face-to-face meetings. And the game keeps on changing.
The truth is that there has never been a better time to be an entrepreneur, and it is celebrated and encouraged now more than it ever has been. But to be successful in business today, especially as a start up operation, you need to have a well-established online presence. As an entrepreneur, it's difficult to establish your clients' online presence without first establishing yours. Thanks to search engines, finding people and their businesses is easier than ever, so it’s crucial to position your business so that it is visible in the digital marketplace. Online visibility is key—which is why today's entrepreneurs are most successful when they learn to navigate a fast-paced, ever evolving digital landscape.
The drawback is that entrepreneurs today are also expected to be more accessible to clients and customers, thanks in large part to technology. Smart phones and social media make it easy to reach the big boss directly to start a conversation, and consumers are looking for responsiveness. Which is why being a business owner today is a 24/7 obligation. Days certainly don't end at 5 p.m. and weekends are most often spent networking and catching up on work tasks. Today's entrepreneur is glued to her phone, responding to every text, tweet, phone call or e-mail. Interfacing with clients in the digital arena is a great way to build brand identity and customer loyalty.
Building an audience of loyal followers is part of driving up the bottom line and spreading your brand name, so it all comes full circle. And when it comes to digital marketing, the writing is on the wall. To be an entrepreneur today is to see an opportunity and pursue it, regardless of the risk or obstacles in the way. For some, it can be a long road to success, but entrepreneurs know how to persevere. It’s about learning from past mistakes, evolving with the times and going for it.
About Yakkety Yak
Yakkety Yak LLC is a Chicago-based full-service content marketing company that produces custom written content for businesses, including blogs, website copy, case studies, newsletters, social media marketing, public relations and more. We want to be an extension of your marketing team to help you connect to end users and decision influencers, based on the principle of one common voice, for one target audience. Ready to get started? Let's Yak.