Starting an online resume business is actually quick and easy.
Most people can start an online business with just a few hours at the computer, yet most won’t make it much beyond that point. Not because their owners lack a good business idea or the right amount of dedication/hard work, but because they have fallen short at effectively marketing their business, online.
You can build an online business presence. Yet, doing so is worthless if no one knows you exist.
Online marketing has a number of critical differences from offline marketing – and most offline marketing techniques simply fail when applied to an online business.
A few online job-search services have the ability to leverage their advertising and marketing team. Marketing comes easily to them because, well, they can afford the right advertising, marketing, and PR team.
Can you afford your own team of [M]Ad Men?
Most cannot.
So, as a small resume business, where should you start?
Where to get started…
Begin your online marketing efforts by building a website. Before I scare you off, know right up front that services such as GoDaddy.com make domain registration and hosting services extremely affordable and easy.
For less than $100 a year, you can secure both in a few minutes.
Don’t know much about website design?
No sweat.
GoDaddy also offers “Website Tonight,” which boasts that “anyone with no experience can build a website.”
Other contenders to consider include Joomla.com, a content management system, or maybe think about putting up a blog instead of a traditional company website.
Services such as WordPress.org are fairly easy to use as well.
Plan on spending a bit of extra time as part of your learning curve, especially if you’re not technical.
Once you have the site established, you need to drive prospective clients or customers – leads, in marketing lingo – to the site.
A good lead for your business is someone who needs your service. But, doesn’t yet know they need it.
For resume writers, a potential client focus might include college students, career changers, or back-to-work parents. Capturing these leads and exposing them to your business message gives them the opportunity to realize their need and to realize that you can fulfill it. Translation: a new customer or client for your business.
There are a number of techniques for capturing leads and keeping them in contact with you and your business.
1. Paid advertising, such as Google AdWords, is one such route. While some shy away from [sometimes] costly pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, highly focused advertising campaigns can be extremely productive when handled correctly.
ADVANCED TIP: PPC advertising does take some learning curve. For example, you will quickly learn that to optimize your spending budget, avoid using certain words in your ads; e.g. example, free, template, sample, and maybe, format.
2. One underused technique is partnership – matching your business with other businesses which have a compatible client base but with whom you aren’t in direct competition.
Resume writers and recruiters, for example.
These deals can be as simple as an ad swap, or as comprehensive as a formal contract to swap email/mailing lists and generate referrals for one another.
3. Another excellent way for generating leads is to write about what you do using a blog.
Write the articles that will attract your ideal client audience. For example, you might write about how resumes are changing in light of new personal branding techniques – and then, of course, link to your own resume business website as a further source for information.
Marketing online takes persistence and practice, but armed with the right tools and techniques can ensure a steady flow of customers and clients to your resume-writing business – and with that comes the success that you deserve.
