How are you using the Internet to grow your career and or business?
According to Wikipedia, global Internet penetration is on the rise. In 2005, a total of 1.04 billion people were using the Internet out of the total global population of 6.5billion. In 2013, about 2.769 billion people were using the Internet out of the total global population of 7.1 billion. That is 39.4% Internet users of the global population. Most importantly, there is an exponential growth in the use of Internet globally.
As prices for smart phones and other mobile gadgets reduce due improvements in technology, more and more people are connecting to the Internet. If you can read this, then you are on-line. That is great. But how are you optimizing the Internet opportunities for your career and business growth?
You need an on-line strategy that is practical with clear metrics to measure the results.
First, know your target market. Who is your ideal customer? What is their level of education, salary range, on-line use habits and which social networks are you likely to find them? How much time do they spend on-line? What are their likely interests on-line? What are their needs? Your on-line strategy should be such that your web presence is attractive to your target market.
Develop a website that offers value to your target customer and keep it up to date. If you visit www.unlockurpotential.com you will notice two things – a product on sell and an easy to use opt-in form. I can tell you, 55% of the visitors to that website tend to leave their names and email addresses. You see, it is good to have LinkedIn, Facebook, Google+ likes and Twitter followers. So what? How are using those people to grow your business? When someone signs-up for your newsletter, it becomes easier to market to them or keep them up-to-date with new developments. That is why, your first priority is to offer value to people so that they can follow you on your social networks, and then put a link in your social page so that they go to your site. And from there, ask them to subscribe in return of a freebie of value to them.
I sometimes provide website review services. Over 80% of websites out there are just informational sites. They make it difficult for their visitors to become customers. The inability of your site to convert visitors to paying customers is what is killing your on-line strategy.
And for your career, it is not enough to just be on LinkedIn, Google+, Twitter or FB. Use the LinkedIn publishing option and offer value to your connections. Alternatively, go to blogger and open a free account. Knowledge is useless unless it is shared.
It is interested that someone just called asking me to provide a quote for training his team about career planning after reading my LinkedIn post here! That is why you should be strategic about the Internet. I know you work in a company, and have limitations of expressing your views. Create a personal blog and never comment about your employer business. Simple.
When I travelled to Asia on a business trip, my host’s friend searched my name in Google.com on exchanging business cards using his mobile phone. What kind of digital footprint are you creating on-line after your name? If a prospective business partner or employer searched your name, what kind of information will they get to know about you?
For example, how do you convince someone that you are a professional or professor without several publications or articles after your name? Allocate at most 30 minutes daily to comment or write about issues that are critical to your career or business.
If you are a tech-savvy person, why not write an app? Even if you sell it at US $0.1 and target 1m users, you will surely get something. Internet is a business of volumes so doesn’t be greedy.
In the next post, I will share an on-line success case study.
