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Re-imagining Your Business - and Website
Being in business involves a constant process of evaluation and course-correction, and sometimes that means a total re-imagining of your business. This might mean a shift towards a new business model, the introduction of a new line of products or services, refocusing towards a new target market, or even a total brand overhaul.
This sort of work can be exciting, and very scary. Changing the way things are done, or the way you present your business to the world can bring up a lot of fear - of failure, of overwhelming success, or just of change itself. I know because I have gone through this process in the past, and am working through it again right now.
Though I can hardly promise anyone that this process could be free of "growing pains", there are a few things I have found helpful during my own re-imaginings.
- Professional help is a good idea.
I have worked with various business and marketing coaches who act as excellent guides through this process. They are used to helping their clients through the brainstorming, research, and decision-making, and the better coaches are also adept at recognizing the "mind games" that can cause blockages to progress. A professional who is knowledgeable about your target market can really help you with crafting your new language and offer, as well as help you zoom-in on who your market is and what appeals to them.
- A trusted network can bring clarity and new ideas.
If you have good relationships with some other business people in your market, or who share a similar philosophy for doing business, talking over new ideas with them can bring some clarity and focus, also they will frequently see things that you haven't and give you valuable feedback and ideas. Another benefit of close relationships with people who "get it" is that others often see us bigger and better than we see ourselves. Their enthusiasm can serve as much-needed validation, and support of our own dreams. I belong to a close-knit mastermind group, as well as a coaching group run by a business coach.
- Take your time and allow the unfolding.
When you get that amazing brainstorm, it's easy to want to start making drastic changes to your marketing materials immediately, but sometimes it's better to gather those ideas together and sit with them awhile. Frequently ideas need to mature a little bit - tweaking the concept, improving the message or offer, getting just that much closer to "it." I've found that taking the space to "hone-in" until it feels right is a good idea, and can keep you from having to immediately redo things you changed prematurely.
- Experiment a bit.
Even though it might not be time yet to go "whole hog" with an entirely new brand that you are still developing, it can be beneficial to start putting out feelers to your market related to your new direction. Perhaps you can test out your new offers on some prospects, make some small tweaks to your website content and track the results. Create some articles and blog posts around your new vision and see what sort of reaction you get.
- When you are ready, take the plunge.
Once your new vision is clear and you feel comfortable with how it has developed, it's time to roll-out the changes across your marketing. This might mean a new logo, or perhaps just a refocused tagline and message. Do an evaluation of your current online and offline marketing materials and decide what changes need to be made to bring them into alignment with your new vision. If you have the ability to change your own website content, (all my clients can add and edit their own content), take a few days to make those updates. Finally, announce your "relaunch" via your blog, e-zine, social media updates, etc.
Web Action Steps
If you aren't sure whether it's time for you to re-imagine your business, consider these issues:
- Have you hit a plateau in your business? Do you want new growth, but haven't experienced it yet?
- Are you asking "Is this it?" of your business recently?
- Are you yearning to bring more of your soul's Higher Purpose into your work?
- Do you feel uncomfortable in your current business identity - like clothing you have outgrown?
If you are going through a period of re-imagining, these are things you might want to consider in relation to your website:
- If you are changing your branding, how much is going to change visually?
- Are you getting a new logo?
- Do you have a new over-all image?
- Will your new target market respond to your current website design?
- If you are changing products, services, or your business model, does your website allow for a simple integration of these changes?
- If you are going to re-write the majority of your website copy, how much will it cost you (from the web designer standpoint) to do so? Would it be worth it to start over entirely rather than just update the content?
- Do you need new technology and content, such as a blog, events calendar, article repository, e-zine, shopping cart, etc?
Re-imaging your business can bring new energy and excitement to your work - not to mention new clients. If you are in the process of re-imagining, and it looks like a new website will be needed, or if you aren't sure, please contact me for a complementary evaluation of your current website.