We don’t mean to intrude, but you’ve just landed on the perfect blog post for such a state of mind.

If you’ve had enough of punching time cards, having your meal times determined by a scheduling program, and answering to middle-management, then perhaps there’s no better time than now to turn those daydreams into reality.

There’s a lot to consider and plan for when becoming your own boss and starting an online business — like what kind of business will you start?

How to Start an Online Business

We live in a connected world, with the internet and technology enabling ample opportunities to start successful businesses online. If you decide to give up the office or retail life and become a digital entrepreneur, you’ll be in good company.

Online, home-based businesses are on the rise and are valuable sources of income for many. Depending on your needs and goals, your business may be a part-time side hustle or it could be your full-time venture.

Is starting an online business a good idea? Online businesses may require fewer investments as compared to brick-and-mortar businesses that require external facilities or a hired staff, and they offer a flexible work-life balance as it’s dictated by you. However, keep in mind that you may need to convert part of your home and living space to support your business, especially as it grows.

Let’s explore some online business ideas that you can launch with a little business planning and a website (and that aren’t MLMs.)

15 Online Business Ideas

Ready to be your own boss? With these business ideas, you can be.

1. Web designer

Web designers are in demand.

As brick-and-mortar businesses convert into online retailers, they all need websites. Business owners often don’t have the time to create and design beautiful, functional websites. Even with the advent of easy-to-use website builders, they seek outside counsel and assistance.

And it isn’t just small businesses that need web design help, large companies frequently hire design consultants to assist with their needs.

Web design is all about creating an intuitive, beautiful experience for the end-user, so if helping others and designing are your passions, this is a great business idea to consider starting from home.

2. Personal fitness trainer

The pandemic has shown us that traditionally in-person businesses can be successful online. You may be accustomed to going to a gym or studio to learn and instruct, but there’s nothing stopping you from doing that online, too.

A website, camera, and open floor space are all you really need to get started if you’re knowledgeable about proper exercise, motivation, and healthy living. Once you build your reputation and your business grows, you may find that you’ll want to start making house calls or letting your clients come to you.

Before starting a personal fitness training business, make sure to research local guidelines to determine if any special licensing is required.

3. Copywriter

Do you have a way with words? The ability to sway people by pen or keyboard? If yes, it’s time to give serious consideration to becoming a copywriter.

Great copy helps convert website visitors into customers, so website owners everywhere seek help writing content like FAQs and blog posts.

To attract those website owners and convince them to hire you, you’ll need to put your skills to work. Start by creating a website to showcase your strengths. Make sure to include an “About” page where prospective clients can learn about you, samples of your work, and make it easy for them to contact you — a “Contact Us” page is great, but your contact information should be discoverable from every page.

4. Interior Designer

Some people have an eye for style, and some don’t. If you do, why not help others create the living or workspaces of their dreams?

Someone, somewhere, doesn’t understand that houndstooth can’t be matched with plaid, or what color walls best pair with their flooring. Your stylistic expertise is what they need and they’ll be happy to pay for a consultation.

As with any business, social proof is important, so you’ll want to showcase your work on your website. Consider adding a blog to your site to keep your readers up-to-date with trends and inform them of what you’ve been working on.

5. Dropshipper

Have you thought about starting an online retail business, only to abandon your dream because you don’t have the funds to invest in a large inventory of products?

Dropshipping solves that issue for you. With dropshipping, you can sell products on your site without worrying about stocking and inventory. It works like this: When you sell a product on your site it’s purchased from a third party who fulfills shipping, so you never have to touch the product. These third-party sellers are normally wholesalers or manufacturers, and you’ll still make a profit from the sales.

Dropshipping means low overhead. You don’t have to purchase any products unless you’ve made a sale and it’s been paid for by the customer. This also gives you great control and flexibility when it comes to testing new products in your market. 

6. Personal chef

Does everyone rave about your cooking? Perhaps now is the time to turn your culinary prowess into a profitable business.

Depending on local regulations and guidelines, you can use your home kitchen to create nutritious, enjoyable meals for your clients. As your business grows, you may need to find a commercial kitchen and hire helpers, but the majority of your marketing, planning, and business work can be done from the comfort of your own home.

Happy clients and referrals will help your business grow, so don’t hesitate to create a website to show off your delicious meals and share information about your offerings.

7. Grant writer

Non-profit organizations rely on donations to fund their goodwill initiatives. There are many opportunities for them to apply for grants to receive funding, but oftentimes, the people behind the scenes are juggling many roles, and don’t have the time to write the incredible grant proposals they need to secure funds.

This is where you come in. Are you a master of pen and keyboard? Do you have a knack for laying information out concisely and persuasively? There are so many organizations vying for a limited amount of grants, that it’s imperative for proposals to be well-formatted and well-written.

There are many free resources online that can help you learn how to write the perfect proposal. Once you’ve nailed it, pitch your services to different organizations and create a website where people seeking grant writers can contact you.

8. Life coach

Does everyone in your friend group rely on you for advice? Do they seek you out for your sage wisdom on love, work, and any other number of personal and professional issues?

Sounds like you might already be a bit of a life coach. Life coaches aren’t therapists, but they do help individuals focus on the life they want, provide guidance and counsel, and help people to achieve their goals.

Some life coaches prefer to coach and speak to big crowds, but it’s a career that can easily be done from your home. While life coaches don’t technically need a license to operate, there are programs designed to help you become a life coach that offer certifications. As with any business, you’ll need to invest in your online presence to build your audience of prospective customers.

9. Blogger

Blogs and websites have democratized the information age, letting anyone who has an interest or is an expert on a topic hold court. Blogging is one of the most popular ways that people share information, and you can manage your blog from home or anywhere!

To be a blogger, you undoubtedly have to have your own site. To be successful, you’ll need to create fresh, interesting content that appeals to your audience. Encourage your readers to share your posts with their friends and on social media to grow your following.

As your blog gains more and more engaged readers, you can offer advertising space on your blog for additional income. If you’re seriously considering becoming a blogger, check out this post about what you need to know when starting a blog.

10.  Virtual assistant

Are you an organizational powerhouse? Have you been called “Type A” more than once? A virtual assistant position may be perfect for you.

Busy executives and business owners can reach a point where they’re inundated with responsibilities and don’t have the time to manage all their tasks. Appointments, emails, video calls — all of these things add up and are time-consuming.

As a virtual assistant, you’d be stepping in to provide the help and organization they so desperately need. You’d carry your tasks out at home, from scheduling meetings and appointments to replying to emails, fielding phone calls, and managing documents. And all of these things are easily achievable using cloud-based solutions. 

So, if you’re the type who plans everything from morning to sundown, you can have a lot of fun and find fulfillment as a Virtual Assistant. 

11.  Consultant

Someone, somewhere, needs your expertise. Consultants are experts in their fields, and they are paid to advise others in their field or to address specific issues others are facing. It’s not the same as a coach, who provides advice and motivation so you meet your goals.

Usually, consultants offer their services to businesses, although individuals sometimes seek out consultants, too. As a home-based consultant, you have the flexibility to determine your own schedule and rates, and there isn’t much overhead when starting your business. However, it takes time to build your clientele, so make sure you highlight your expertise and other relevant information on your site and include social proof where possible. 

12.  Instructor/Tutor

Covid-19 has changed the face of education, and now is a great time to start an online tutoring business. Parents everywhere are struggling to run their households, manage their careers, and act as secondary (or primary) teachers as their kids attend remote schooling.

If you’re knowledgeable and have a gift for teaching, why not help out in this time of increased need and get paid for it? All that’s required are a computer, a website, and a camera. You can conduct online lessons and tutoring sessions, and add helpful content to your site.

If you do well, your students’ parents will be your best advocates — touting your expertise and sharing your information with other parents in similar situations, and word-of-mouth is a powerful marketing tool.

13. Podcaster

Podcasts are insanely popular. In fact, almost 60% of U.S. consumers listen to podcasts.

If you like the sound of your own voice and think others may, too, then consider starting a podcast. All of us have stories to share and knowledge that we can impart to others.

To get started with podcasting, you’ll need the following:

• A quality microphone
• Software or tools to record audio
• Audio editing tools
• A website

To gain more listeners, try partnering with other more well-known podcasters or thought leaders as you get started. And don’t forget to encourage your listeners to leave reviews!

14. Domain Investor

You’ve heard of real estate investors, but did you know that domain investing is a thing?

Just like real estate properties, domains are great investments because a good domain name will only increase in value. Domain investing means buying domain names and then selling them for a greater amount.

Good domain names have to meet certain criteria, like being short, memorable, and brandable. Business owners will pay for the right domain name because domains are the core of a business’ digital identity. You’ll need to do your research before jumping into the world of domain investing, as you’ll be using your own funds to get started, and you don’t want to lose your money.

Luckily, there are many online resources that can help you get started with domain investing, and there are plenty of sites, like BuyDomains.com, that offer reasonably priced premium domain names which you can resell.

15.  Freelance Editor

Does the thought of correcting someone’s diction and syntax excite you? Do you have fond memories of red pens in the pre-digital era? Are you the person your friends rely on for reviewing and improving important documents?

Sounds like you’ll make a mighty fine freelance editor. Freelance editors take on many roles, from editing grammar to content, and even SEO.

To get started, you’ll want to create a site to showcase your work. Ask friends and family that have relied on you for editing services to provide testimonials, and reach out to businesses you think could benefit from your services. Your work as a freelance editor can be done from anywhere — at home, while traveling, or in a rented space, whatever you prefer.

Ready to start your online business?

There’s no better time than now to launch an online business. We hope these ideas have inspired you to get started and pursue your dreams!

Before investing your time and money in a new venture, it’s always a good idea to take the time to validate your business idea and create a business plan. This way, you’ll know exactly who your audience is, and the best way to conduct your enterprise.

Do you have any other online business ideas you’d like to share? Comment below!

Your brand is what makes you and your business unique — if it could be distilled down into something tangible, we’d venture to call it your “special sauce.”

Your brand is a first impression — the first impression that customers and potential clients will have of your business. You don’t get a second chance at a first impression, so make it count.

The good thing is, you don’t have to go at it alone. We’re here to help you understand what it takes to craft the perfect brand and take it to market in our two-part guide to branding.

What Is a Brand?

Your brand comprises many things: It’s your business and website colors, your logo, the products and services you offer, and the way you present your business online. It’s the feeling someone gets when they hear your business or domain name, and it’s what they think of you as they browse your site. And yet, that still doesn’t fully capture what your brand is.

In essence, your brand is the summation of every single touchpoint a person can have with your business and what they think about you. That includes your site, social media, products and services, logos, your business’s mission and values, the way you speak to your audience on your site and in your blog, and how you provide customer service.

You can build and work on elements of your brand to influence it; however, keep in mind that it’s just as much what someone thinks of your business as it is the elements you can control, like your logo and colors. Ultimately, your brand lives and dies in the eyes of the consumer.  

To get a bit more technical, let’s look at how Merriam-Webster defines “Brand.” They say it’s a “class of goods identified by name as the product of a single firm or manufacturer, a characteristic or distinctive kind, and a public image, reputation, or identity conceived of as something to be marketed or promoted.”

Why Are Brands Important?

Your brand sets you apart from the competition. When all else is equal, a customer’s brand loyalty is the deciding factor in where and with what business they choose to transact. Jeff Bezos once said, “Your brand is what people say about you when you’re not in the room.”

So, what do you want your customers to say about you? And how can you influence it? Let’s explore different elements of branding that you can work on to craft the perfect brand identity.

Elements of Branding

Your brand isn’t entirely within your control. You see, it’s a living, evolving thing. You set the foundation upon which it grows: Deciding on a domain and business name, your logo, your colors, and your typography. Then, it evolves as people and customers interact with you, get to know your products and what type of service you provide, and when they buy into your mission and values as a business.

Business and Domain Name

Names affect brands, but how?

A good name lends trust and credibility to your business, to your brand. A good name is one of your company’s most valuable assets, and if you don’t believe us, you need only look to one of the largest businesses of our time, Starbucks, to find out why.

Starbucks co-founder, Gordon Bowker, tells us how Starbucks got its name in an interview with The Seattle Times. He says, “We were thinking of all kinds of names and came desperately close to calling it Cargo House, which would have been a terrible, terrible mistake. Terry Heckler [with whom Bowker owned an advertising agency] mentioned in an offhand way that he thought words that begin with ‘st’ were powerful words. I thought about that and I said, yeah, that’s right, so I did a list of ‘st’ words.

Somebody somehow came up with an old mining map of the Cascades and Mount Rainier, and there was an old mining town called Starbo. As soon as I saw Starbo, I, of course, jumped to Melville’s first mate [named Starbuck] in Moby-Dick.”

There you have it — Starbucks was named, in large part, due to the perceived strength of the “st” sound that begins its name.

“Your brand is what people say about you when you’re not in the room.”

Jeff bezos

Words can indeed cause people to feel different things depending on the sounds in the word. Christopher Johnson, Ph.D., a verbal branding consultant known as “The Name Inspector,” discusses these sounds or “rhythmic contrasts” in words in his book MICROSTYLE The Art of Writing Little.

Did you know that business names can be thought of as either feminine or masculine depending on the sound or rhythm of the word?  He uses the examples of Chanel, a “feminine brand name”, and Black & Decker, a “masculine brand name”, as explained below.

The name Chanel is an iamb, meaning it consists of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed one (shə-NEHL or chaNEL.) “Iambs tend to sound lighter and softer,” Johnson writes, while “… trochees tend to sound heavier and harder.” Black & Decker is an example of a trochee; those consist of a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable (BLACK & deck-ER.) He notes that “Most people ‘feel’ this difference even if they find it hard to pinpoint.” Keep in mind that means people will feel a certain way about your business name, probably without realizing it, so put some extra thought into naming your business.

Choosing the right domain name should be part of the process of selecting your business name. Both will support your brand, and for consistency, they should be as similar (if not exact) as possible. Successful businesses in this day and age require having an online presence, so a website (and therefore, domain name) is a must.

Here’s what else you should keep in mind when deciding on the perfect domain name for your brand:

• Does it pass the radio test?
  • If someone were only to hear your domain name in passing on the radio and never see it written out, could they navigate to it? If the answer is no, consider going back to the drawing board and choosing another name.
• Avoid unique spelling, punctuation, or excessive numbers.
  • For starters, it won’t pass the radio test. Do you really expect people to remember that instead of the letter “I,” you use the number “1” in your domain name? Or that you have approximately five hyphens and three numbers in your domain? No, you can’t reasonably expect that. And if people can’t remember or spell your domain name, the chances of them getting to your website are slim.
• Make it memorable.
  • Try to keep your domain name short. The longer it gets, the more chances people have of mistyping and never reaching your site.
• Buy alternate misspellings of your domain name.
  • This helps in two ways:
    • If there are common misspellings of your domain name, purchase them to ensure you get any traffic from people who mistyped your correct domain.
    • It prevents competitors from purchasing misspellings of your domain name. If your competitor owns those misspelled alternates of your domain, they can redirect traffic from there to their own site.
• Consider a new domain extension.
  • Is .com really king? It’s well known, and people recognize it, but nowadays, there are thousands of domain extensions that can help you get the perfect domain name.
  • Starting an online store? Try .store. Opening a yoga studio? Try .yoga. There is a domain extension for just about everything, and these TLDs can help add context and memorability to your domain name.

Business and Brand Logo

Humans are visual creatures, so hook their attention with a good-looking logo.

Why are logos important? Just like with domain names, a good logo is a calling card for your brand. Your logo should be memorable and unique enough that when people see it, they instantly think of your brand and don’t confuse it with another.

There are various types of logos, ranging from strictly visual (think abstract logos like Chase Bank) to mascots (used by many sports teams), emblems (law firms or universities), and lettermarks and wordmarks (like CNN or Google, respectively.)

Domain.com uses a variety of logos, like you see below, to help support our brand. 

When designing your logo, keep the following tips in mind:

• Leverage white and empty space. 
  • Your logo doesn’t need to look “busy” to communicate your brand.
• Rely on your business’s color palette. 
• Where will your logo be displayed? 
  • You’ll likely need different versions or sizes so that it looks good on your website, in your emails, and on social media. 
• Relevancy is key. 
  • Your logo is representative of your brand, don’t forget that. 

With Domain.com, it’s easy to create a professional logo to support your brand. All you need is a name, and Domain.com’s LogoMaker will instantly create hundreds of logo options for you to choose from. Then, you can customize everything from colors and fonts to icons and more. 

Sign in to your Domain.com account today and select “Business” at the top of your control panel to leverage the power and design capabilities of LogoMaker. 

Color Psychology and Branding

Designing a website can be a lot of fun, especially when you use a tool like WebsiteBuilder, which does all the heavy lifting for you. That gives you more time to focus on the creative aspects, like the color palette your business and site uses. 

Your brand’s color palette can affect the way people interact with you. This is due to color psychology, or “the study of hues as a determinant of human behavior.”

Certain colors lend themselves to specific associations. In Western culture, we say that green is the color of envy and think of blue as relaxing and meditative. The color black, for example, is believed to represent wealth and prosperity in Eastern cultures and is foreboding and threatening in Western cultures. 

Domain.com’s primary color is Carmine Red, as you see below. We chose it to help us create a strong, bold, and energetic brand expression that helps us stand out and build recognition. 

From there, we selected an accompanying functional color palette — one that’s monochromatic and leverages greyscale to add a stark contrast to our primary color. 

Go into your color selection with an idea of what you want those colors to exemplify. For Domain.com, we embrace a minimal and clean color palette to allow for deliberate emphasis on bold visual elements. Our colors are meant to inspire and drive action, to help the Doers out there get more done. 

Font and Branding

A successful brand understands that different fonts send different messages to their audiences. So choose your fonts carefully — no one wants to send the wrong message to their audience accidentally. 

There are hundreds and hundreds of fonts available to you, some you can find for free, and others require purchase. However, most of the fonts you’ll want to use fall into the following categories:

• Serif
  • Serif fonts are distinctive due to the flourish or decorative stroke at the end of the letters (both horizontally and vertically.) These fonts generally give your site and brand a more formal tone. 
• Sans 
  • Sans fonts add no serifs, or decorative strokes, to their letters. In fact, in French, “sans” means without. These fonts give off a modern and straightforward vibe. 

Domain.com uses Lato for its branding, choosing it for its flexibility and bold, modern style. 

What are you thinking about using for your brand? Why? Let us know in the comments!

Customer Service, Values, and Branding

A consistent customer experience is at the core of your brand. To put this into perspective, let’s look at Starbucks again to see what they’re doing right. 

Whether or not you’ve had their coffee (and with over 28k locations, we’re betting you have), the odds are good that you’ve heard of Starbucks. How did they get to be so big and such a well-loved brand?

The intelligent minds at Starbucks realized that their brand, their business persona, was in the hands of their customers. Understanding that, they’ve since done everything they can to enhance the public’s perception of them positively. 

Starbucks trained its partners (what they call their employees) to greet you when you walk in the door and know that it should only take 3 minutes from that moment until you get your drink. I don’t know about you, but a cheerful greeting and expedient service are likely to make me think more fondly of a business.

Starbucks provides a consistent experience. You’ll find similar menus across most of their locations, all of which are easily identifiable by the green siren logo. Not to mention, that logo is one of the world’s most recognizable logos. Their locations are comfortable, inviting, and positioned as a “third place” — a place between home and work that’s welcoming and relaxing.

Starbucks’ mission statement is, “To inspire and nurture the human spirit — one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time.” They live this mission in their stores, and it’s reflected in the materials they choose to share on social media. They do such an excellent job of living their mission statement, and so it’s how their customers think of them — it’s the heart of their brand.

What would happen to the Starbucks brand if they decided to double all their prices, increase the wait time for drinks, and hire only surly service workers? Those wouldn’t be changes to the material goods they offer, but changes that affect the customer experience. Their brand would undoubtedly suffer because it lives in the eyes of the consumer.

Have you ever been to the Starbucks website? In our original definition, we said that “Your brand is the summation of every single touchpoint a customer can have with your business and how they think about you.” Websites are customer touchpoints, and Starbucks’ site is designed to reflect their commitment to their mission statement and ease of use.

We understand that you may not have a Starbucks-sized budget to run and market your business, but you can still cop a few of their tactics to grow your brand. Put your customers first, provide a good and consistent experience, and live your mission statement.

A Successful Brand Is a Successful Business

Take the time to focus on building and crafting your brand before launching your business in the market. 

Structural elements like your logo, color palette, and typography and fonts keep your brand consistent and robust. These core pieces work together to make your brand recognizable wherever it appears. 

Once you’ve nailed your structural elements, you can approach your brand’s more flexible and creative elements, like selecting what photography and illustration to use on your site. All of these things help communicate a broader range of emotions, showcase your products, and create clear points of view for your customers. 

Ready to work on your brand and bring your business to life? Domain.com has all the tools you need, so get started today. 

No matter how beautiful and functional your site is, you can’t gain traction and build a successful business if no one knows about it. Sure, you can craft a few social media posts and create some flyers, but those ad hoc efforts won’t result in much if they aren’t part of a larger, strategic business marketing plan.

If you’re not a trained marketer, the idea of creating a marketing plan for your business can seem intimidating. Where do you begin and what’s included?

Rest assured, you can write a great marketing plan, and we’re going to help.

In this post, we’ll start by defining what a marketing plan is, then we’ll discuss the different elements that make up a marketing plan, and finally, we’ll provide tips so you can craft the best plan possible.

Creating a Business Marketing Plan

What is a business marketing plan? It’s a strategic document that outlines how you’ll communicate your products and services to your audience. It details what you’re setting out to accomplish, why you’re doing it, how you’ll get there, and in what time frame.

Marketing plans aren’t static documents, they are actionable guides that can and should be edited and reworked when necessary.  

Your plan helps take the guesswork out of connecting with prospective customers — it serves as a roadmap for your marketing efforts and ensures you aren’t throwing money away on random tactics. Unless you have plenty of disposable income (and who does?), you want to know that the money you invest in marketing is well-spent.

“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.”

-Benjamin Franklin

Keep in mind that no two marketing plans are exactly alike. Depending on your business and specific needs, you may end up with a more simple or complex plan. But regardless of its length and complexity, your plan should always be backed by research and data.

Let’s look at what you need to have prepared in order to write a business marketing plan. 

Preparing to write your business marketing plan

Before you sit down to write your marketing plan, you should have an idea of what data supports and informs it. Take a look at the following list and make sure to have this information handy as it will help guide the shape your plan takes.   

Your business’s mission statement

A mission statement sets the tone for your business. It’s a short, and to-the-point statement that describes the purpose of your business and it informs your business decisions.   

Ideal customer persona

Your ideal customer persona, also called a buyer persona, is like an archetype of your perfect customer. Creating a customer persona gives you a better understanding of their needs and how to address them.

This persona should include actionable information, like:

• Their demographics (age, income, location, etc.).
• Goals and challenges.
• Their interests.
• Any relevant behavioral traits.

Your customer persona should give insight into how you can better communicate with your prospective customers — from where you can find them to share your message (i.e. on social media) to what language you should use (for example, avoiding jargon and buzzwords.)

Target market information

Identifying your target market is a lot like identifying your ideal customer persona; however, there are a few key differences.

While they both involve demographics and psychographics, your target market deals with a broader group of potential and prospective customers. Your target market could be people in a certain age or income bracket, whereas your ideal customer represents a more segmented piece of that market. 

General market information

When we talk about knowing your general marketing information, we’re talking about your customers, competitors, suppliers, along with industry news and trends.

Look at your competitors, the businesses offering products and services similar to yours, and try to identify the following things:

• What are they doing well?
• What are they doing poorly?
• Do you know what their customers look like?
• What differentiates you from them?
• What marketing materials do they use?
• Where do they share their message?

Knowing these things helps you understand what works and prevents you from making their mistakes.

Have you taken the time to know your suppliers? What’s available to you and when? This helps you plan your inventory and can help as your business picks up and demand grows.

Keeping your finger on the pulse of your industry is always a good idea. It helps to know when there are new trends you can capitalize on, and it can provide insight into your own products and processes.

Your business goals

Your business marketing plan exists to support your business goals. It’s never a bad idea to restate your goals and come back to them often. This keeps them front-of-mind and helps you craft a marketing plan that ultimately supports your goals.

“A goal without a plan is just a wish.”

– Antoine de Saint-Exupéry 

Business marketing plan elements

Now that you’ve prepared, it’s time to work on drafting your marketing plan.

Not all marketing plans look exactly the same — you can create email marketing plans, social media marketing plans, and various others. Below, we’ll provide a basic framework you can use to create a general business marketing plan, but feel free to customize or tweak it for more specialized marketing plans.  

1. Description of your business and goals.
2. Describe your target market and ideal buyer persona.
3. Defining SMART goals.
4. Marketing tactics.
5. Measuring success.
6. Roles and responsibilities.

1. Description of your business and goals

The first step in writing any business marketing plan is to lay the groundwork.

Your mission statement helps direct your business, and it helps direct your marketing plan, too. Don’t use your general mission statement in your plan; instead, adapt it so that you have a similar statement to set the tone for your marketing plan.

For example, HomeChef’s mission statement is “to make cooking fresh food at home as easy as possible.” That could be turned into a marketing mission statement by editing it so that it reads, “to engage an audience of amateur and time-starved home cooks, educate them on the joys of cooking, and turn them into subscribers of our service.”

In one fell swoop, you’ve both set out your mission statement and created a goal that the rest of your plan will help support. 

2. Describe your target market and ideal buyer persona

There are people out there who need and want your services, but they don’t know about you yet: Who are they?

Let’s continue with the example we used above — in that statement, we’ve identified that we’re looking to market to an audience of “amateur and time-starved home cooks.”

This section should address that market: Where do you find these people? What are their worries and how can your product or service answer their needs? What do they “look like” (demographics, income, etc.)?

This is also a good time to think about your competition. How do you stand out in your target market? Do you have a unique selling proposition (USP) that differentiates you from other similar businesses? If you don’t know what sets you apart then it’s going to be difficult to target your market and make sales.

All of this information helps you think of, discover, and revise your marketing strategies and tactics, which we’ll get into shortly. 

3. Define your S.M.A.R.T. goals

Smart goals are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely. They make you think practically and realistically, breaking down lofty ideas into achievable goals.

Your marketing mission statement is a great starting place when drafting your specific goals. In our example, we said that our mission is “to engage an audience of amateur and time-starved home cooks, educate them on the joys and techniques of cooking, and turn them into subscribers of our service.”

Now, it’s your job to think of how that can be turned into more specific, actionable goals. We’ll share an example to give you an idea of how it’s done.

We know our target audience cooks at home, but they’re often at a loss for time and might not know all the proper cooking techniques. In researching their behaviors, we discovered that they use certain social media channels for meal ideas. With this information, we can create the following smart goal:

• Set aside one hour each week to create short videos that illustrate our simple, delicious recipes, and share those on social media to create interest in our service.

That goal shows you understand your need to create brand awareness and are sensitive to your ideal customer’s time and abilities, and that you know where to find them online. It also gives you a concrete, achievable goal that you can easily put into practice. 

4. Marketing tactics

Fundamentally, your marketing strategy is designed to promote your products and services so that you can convert customers.  

Your marketing tactics are the specific things you do to support your overall strategy and plan, and can be made up of many different activities, like the following:

• Public relations
• Online marketing
  • Social Media
  • Email
  • Website
• Sales and promotions
• Other marketing materials

You can use this section of your plan to detail the tactics and channels you’ll use to communicate your marketing messages in support of your smart goals. 

5. Measuring success

As a small business owner, you don’t have the time or energy to invest in wasted marketing efforts. Implementing KPIs, or key performance indicators is a great way to measure the efficacy of your marketing and helps you understand what’s working and what isn’t.

If one of your goals is to increase brand awareness through the use of social media, then you might want to consider social share of voice as a KPI. Social share of voice (SSoV) helps you understand how much people are talking about you versus others in your industry. If your SSoV increases on platforms where you share your marketing messages, you can assume that your strategy and tactics are working.

If you’re running a seasonal promotion on certain products, you can look to your click-through rates and conversion rates to see if they drove any increase in traffic and sales on your site. Google Analytics is a great, free tool that can help you understand your website performance. 

6. Roles and responsibilities

Do you require others to help support and implement your marketing plan? Use this final section to define what everyone’s responsibilities are so there’s no question or debate.

Implement your business marketing plan

And there you go! Using this guide, you should be able to craft a business marketing plan that helps direct your efforts so you can achieve your goals.  

Do you have any tips and tricks to share with other entrepreneurs as they craft their marketing plans? If so, share them in the comments below and let us know what’s worked for you.

If you’re new to domains, you might not realize that they can expire, and that’s because domains aren’t a “one and done” type of purchase. When you register a domain name you’re in effect leasing it for a set amount of time, usually anywhere from 1 to 10 years.  

In this post, we’re discussing the importance of domain names, the lifecycle of domain names, what happens when a domain name expires, and domain name renewal.

Why should you renew your domain name?

The importance of a domain name

Domain names are more important than you might at first realize. They’re a big part of your online identity and represent your business.

A good domain name offers your business credibility and sets it apart from spammy websites. It inspires trust in your customers, gives your SEO efforts a boost, and gives you a central point to grow and market your digital business.

The perils of losing your domain name

When you lose your domain name, you lose an integral part of your brand. Your domain is a pivotal touchpoint that people have with your brand — in essence, it’s the address they need to arrive on your digital doorstep.

If you don’t renew your domain name and it expires, it’s available for purchase by just about anyone, including your competitors. Could you imagine a competitor snatching up your domain name and redirecting it to their main site? They wouldn’t even have to create a redirect to hurt your business, all they’d have to do is hold on to the domain name so that you can’t use it anymore.

Expired domain names are a hot commodity. Once a domain name has been registered and used, it can offer a history of established website traffic and backlinks, making them valuable to a great many people.

It’s not just competitors you have to worry about when your domain name expires. An expired domain name can impact your SEO, or search engine optimization. If your site goes down because your domain expired, it looks pretty bad to search engines, and there’s a good chance your site will lose its ranking in search engine results.

And then there’s the brand-building aspect that you have to worry about. When a domain name expires, you risk losing it altogether to another buyer. That means all the hard work you’ve put into marketing, establishing your site, and creating consumer trust is gone. GONE. It’ll set you back to the beginning of your digital journey and you’ll need to build those things all over again.

Real-life examples of expired domain names

Have you heard of Foursquare? When they were just a startup, they forgot to renew their domain name. For a business that was valued at nearly $80 million dollars at the time, that was a giant mistake and left them open to a lot of ridicule.

An expired domain name can also hit you where it hurts the most — right in your wallet. In 2017, Sorenson communications forgot to renew their domain name. However, they’re a provider of services for many Americans with disabilities and their domain expiration gaff was deemed “a preventable service outage.” In the end, they had to pay $2.7 million dollars on top of an additional $252 thousand dollar penalty. Ouch.

The lifecycle of a domain name

Domain name lifecycles can be broken down into four pieces: Active, Expired, Redemption Grace Period, and Pending Deletion.

• Active
  • When your domain is active, you can change its settings and modify contact information. Having an active domain name is essential to keeping your website online and your professional email working.
  • A domain becomes active once it’s been registered, those registration periods lasting anywhere from 1 to 10 years.
• Expired
  • A domain officially becomes expired one day after its expiration date. Your website and any email addresses associated with your domain name won’t function. Instead, your website will display a “parked” page.
  • Note: Others can bid on and attempt to purchase the domain name as soon as it expires; however, your claim to the domain takes priority over 3^rd party bids if you renew your domain within 30 days of its expiration.
• Redemption Grace Period
  • After about 45 days of being in an expired state, the domain name will enter a redemption grace period. Some TLDs may enter redemption status the day after they expire.
  • Note: If your domain is in a redemption period you can still retrieve it. Most registrars will charge a redemption fee in addition to your normal domain renewal rate. You can contact us if your domain was registered through Domain.com and you need to redeem it during the redemption period.
• Pending Delete
  • Once a domain enters the pending delete stage it can no longer be retrieved. It will remain in this status for about 5 days and then be released back into the public for new registration. If this happens, you can try to purchase the domain name again, assuming someone else doesn’t, and not have to pay any redemption fees, only the regular registration fee.

Domain name renewals

If you’re a Domain.com customer, we make renewing your domain easy. Instead of having to set a yearly calendar reminder or a bunch of reminders depending on how many domains you own, we give you the option of automatically renewing your domain name.

You can find the auto-renewal option in your account once you’re logged in. All you have to do is click “Domains” at the top left of the page, then select “Manage” under the domain name you’d like to set to auto-renew. You should then see the selection for auto-renew, and a quick switch of the toggle is all it takes as you see below.

Domain name renewal tips

Here are some tips we’ve put together to try and help make life a little easier when managing your domains.

• Keep your renewal reminder notices turned on. If you turn them off and don’t have auto-renew set up, it could be a recipe for disaster. We’ll send an email 30 days before your domain is set to expire and again within 5 days of the day it expires.
• Set your domains to automatically renew. This way, you won’t have to worry about missing an email reminder in a potentially over-crowded inbox.
• Update any outdated billing information. If you lose your credit or debit card, or if it expires naturally, you don’t want to find yourself in a bind. Instead of risking the loss of your domain name, go through your statements to see what charges are there and update those services with your new card information.
• Consolidate, consolidate, consolidate! It’s not easy keeping track of multiple domain names with different expiration dates across different registrars. We recommend keeping your domains with one registrar where you can see them all in one place.
• Is your email address up to date? If it’s not, you’ll never receive any domain expiration reminder emails. If the domain is your own, make sure your email address isn’t associated with a school or business you no longer attend or work for.

Protect your business, your brand, and your site with domain auto- renew

Purchasing a domain name is your first investment in your website and online business. Keep the momentum going by setting it to auto-renew so that you don’t lose your domain name and tarnish your brand.

No domain name? Grab yours today at Domain.com!

While every website needs a domain name, not every person who registers a domain name actually builds a site and uses their domain. So, it’s safe to say that there are far more than 1.74 billion registered domain names. 

It’s been over 35 years since the first domain name was registered in March of ‘85, and it’s become harder and harder for people to find the exact domain name they want. Many have already been registered, especially if they’re composed of words found in the dictionary and popular extensions.

So what’s a person to do?

First things first, just because a domain name is already registered doesn’t mean it’s guaranteed to be unavailable for your use. There’s a big market of people who buy, sell, and invest in domain names that have already been registered, and more specifically, in premium domains. 

Premium domains have already been registered and are considered valuable — they’re shorter and keyword-rich, and that’s often reflected in their cost. Despite the initial investment, they could end up saving you marketing dollars over time as you won’t need to spend money slinging a second-rate domain name. 

But what other advantages do premium domain names offer? 

The benefits of using a premium domain name for business

Premium domain names give your business an advantage over the competition. Let’s explore how and why that is. 

Branding & Recognition

Branding your business is essential, and there’s a lot to a brand, including your domain name. Consistency is essential to your brand, and that includes having a domain name that speaks to what your business and site are all about. Premium domain names like food.com, cars.com, and vacation.com are all great examples of this, and put your business’s specialty and focus front and center. 

Marketing 

A great premium domain name gives your marketing efforts a boost. Since premium domains are often shorter and contain keywords, they’re easier to remember than a subpar domain name that’s riddled with hyphens and numbers. 

This all works in your favor when it comes to marketing, like word-of-mouth marketing, because your customers will have an easier time recalling your domain and sharing it with others. It also helps people retain and remember your domain name when they see it printed on materials, like business cards or flyers. In the long run, a premium domain name can save you money because people are wont to remember it — you won’t waste funds on constantly getting your mediocre domain name in front of peoples’ faces to try and cajole them into visiting your site. 

Credibility & Authority

In business, credibility is vital. In today’s digital age, a domain name is oftentimes the first interaction someone has with a brand. Your domain name can make or break someone’s first impression of your business and site. 

Let’s set the scenario: You’re looking to buy a new car and want to take out a loan, but you’re not sure who to work with so you hop over to Google and run an online search. Now, you’re going to see a TON of results — but what will you click on — a search result with a domain of loans.com, or a search result with a domain like car-loans1135s.com? 

When it comes to first impressions, premium domain names give you credibility and authority over the competition. 

Website Traffic

Premium domain names are more likely to get you direct, type-in traffic on your website. 

What this means is that people are typing your (short & keyword-friendly) premium domain name into the URL bar to search those keywords instead of using a dedicated search engine. And voila! They land on your site because your premium domain matches their search terms. Direct website traffic is a boon for your business — in fact, direct traffic is known to have high conversion rates. 

SEO Benefits

SEO can seem mystifying — is it a science? Is it some kind of wizardry? SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is the practice of optimizing your website so that it performs better in online search results. 

The whole point of SEO is to make sure that the sites that are most useful and relevant to the end user’s query surface first in the results. 

If your domain name is shorter and key-word rich, like with premium domains, it’s more likely to appear higher in the search results. Now, granted, you have to actually have a relevant website, too. Long gone are the days when just a keyword could grant you top placement. But if you have those keywords in your domain name and have a good website, your SEO potential grows drastically. 

How to purchase a premium domain name

Ready to make an investment in your business and website with a premium domain name?

You’ve come to the right place. You can purchase a premium domain through a domain name search on Domain.com, and we also recommend our sister company, BuyDomains.com, that specializes in premium domains. 

When you purchase a premium domain name you’re investing in so many aspects of your business: marketing, branding, SEO, and more. So what are you waiting for? Get a leg up on your online competition with a premium domain name today. 

Have an idea for a business or just a really great idea? Are you ready to take it online?

Well, it all starts with a great domain. 

So we’ve gathered all of the essential information you need to find a domain name that stands out, looks professional, and attracts the right audience. Bookmark this page to keep it as a resource for the future.

Ready to get started? Domain.com makes it easy and inexpensive to get the domain name you want, fast.  

Glossary of Domain Terms 

Words and phrases you need to know when researching and purchasing the right domain for your business or brand. Find the definition you need here. 

Domain name vs. URL, what’s the difference?

A domain name is like your website’s address and it’s what leads people to your site, whereas the universal resource locator, or URL, includes more specific information like the location of documents or pages on your website. Discover more here. 

What is a domain extension or top-level domain (TLD)?

In the domain name “Domain.com,” the letters after ‘Domain’ represent the domain extension. While .com may be the most well-known extension, there are thousands of others like .co, .tech, .online, .live, and more.

How to choose a domain name

How do you select a domain name that is relevant to your business or brand and that’s also catchy, short, easy to spell, and easy to say? Check out our best tips in this article. 

How to buy a domain name

Find a registrar, like Domain.com, for access to all of the major TLDs available, and choose the one that best fits your needs. Find out what to expect when you start searching for yours.

The difference between new domains vs existing domains

Whether you’re buying a new domain name, adding to your domain name portfolio, or purchasing an existing domain, Domain.com is here to help. Not sure what the difference is between new and expired domain names? We can help with that, too. 

What if your domain is already taken?

Find out what your options are for securing an alternate domain name, or learn how to find the owner of the domain that’s perfect for your business so you can attempt to purchase it from them.

I bought a domain name, now what?

Once you’ve secured your domain name, it’s time to start establishing your brand and attracting an audience from around the world. Here’s a rundown of what you should do post-domain name purchase. 

How to maintain your new domain

Domain names require some maintenance. Don’t worry, it’s nothing too extreme. Here’s what you need to know. 

It all starts with the right domain

Find the best domain name for your business by first doing a little research. Read the in-depth articles we’ve linked to above and learn how to find a domain name that stands out, looks professional, and attracts the right audience.

Any questions? Let us know in the comments below.