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Businesses Online: Keys for your Digital First Impressions

How's your business first impression online?

Are you aware you often have more than one avenue for a first impression online?

Often we think of a company website as the first impression online, and rightfully so. However, in today's social media day, a first impression a potential customer may have with your business may be through your employees activity on social media! Are you thinking about that?

Digital first impressions is the topic today in this Halftime Mike interview with Jeff Korhan.

Jeff Korhan is the bestselling author of Built-In Social: Essential Social Marketing Practices for Every Small Business, host of This Old New Business podcast, and a primary contributor to Social Media Guide for Floral Retailers and Wholesalers, Paid to Speak, and Speak More!

Korhan founded a landscape services company that was twice named Small Business of the Year during its two decades of operation. Jeff now helps mainstream businesses use media to create exceptional customer experiences that drive business growth in a digital, social and global business environment. He is a trainer and coach for small businesses, and a keynote speaker for the associations and member organizations that support them.

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Businesses Online: Keys for your Digital First Impressions

Business Process - Your Digital First Impressions….Yes, “Impressions” is plural for a reason! Businesses can have more than one way of having or making a first impression online today. Businesses need to put their best trained talent out front. It is about your website and digital media as a front line on the web but it’s also about your PEOPLE being a front line! With the integration of social media into the everyday web interaction of people online, your front line PEOPLE may be the first live impression of your business that someone encounters.

Covered & Answered in this Halftime Mike Interview:

Why your website is your key first impression piece online
What are website keys that any business website needs to have to be rockin’ that first impression?
- Mobile responsive
- Clean user experience
- Specific CTA’s
- and more!
You owned a Landscape business - It’s a hands on, go out and work in the dirt business. Are you saying a business like this needs to have a plan for their team members to be “first impression makers” online?
- Oh yeah! - even more so than other businesses! Listen to find out why.
How would you develop a guide or process for this to train employees with?
- Map it out, find the critical touchpoints,
- Focus on them, but make sure everyone knows the OVERALL PROCESS, that’s the GPS that keeps everyone on track!
Can you share keys that are likely going to be included in this type of first impression work by team members?
- What you care about
- culture
- why you are doing this - meaningful and personal - business story
Where are most business lagging behind in this area? What are items you see most often they need to improve on?
- email marketing!
Time. How do you deal with the “time it takes” issue to get this done? The training, the work in developing content, social sharing, etc? (
- Touchpoints, find the intersection of day-to-day activities, basic operations work, with the global business process. It should always get better!
Let’s recap the issue: First impressions online might be your website or your people, your website you can control, your people you need to train! Tips on getting started with this?
- Answer the top 50 problems/questions people have on your site!
- Follow-up with solutions.
- Knit these pieces together into a process!
- Train and reinforce the process.

[Tweet "TIP: Your biz 1st impressions might be your employees on social! Are you ready? via @jeffkorhan"]

All this and more as we dive into buyer personas for businesses!

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Why the Halftime theme Mike?

I’m an Indiana Hoosier native where basketball is the top sport. Every team heads to the locker room at halftime to evaluate the first half and create a updated plan for the second half. That plan includes adjustments based on reviewing what worked and what didn't. The “halftime” is a key review point where the game stops, the team pulls away to huddle in the locker room away from the fans, and they come out prepared and ready to succeed in the second half.

That’s what this podcast is all about, taking the time to pull away for a bit to evaluate, learn, and set some strategies for your business to succeed in the second half. Join me by subscribing and let me be your “business halftime” to help you find great success going forward!

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