So you started your business? Congratulations. Product? Check! Price? Check! Place? Check? But can the people who need to find you? The word footprint tends to be used with mostly online activity but really online footprints are an extension of offline footprints. You can start online or offline but surely the goal is to have a large recognisable footprint on both. So how do we manage our footprints to make sure those who need us can find us?

Google yourself, your business, your industry

Ironic that I should start online but it is what it is. Have a look first of all at how easy it is for somebody to find your business, just bear in mind that not everybody who needs you knows they need you. People are more likely to search for “how to fix slow computer” than “who fixes slow computers in my area”. When you search for your name consider what a Google my Business listing can do for you. Secondly, look at how words related to your industry perform in terms of search frequency. Finally, have a look at how and what people are searching for in regards to your industry.

Be available on every platform

Platforms online and offline are a dime a dozen these days. You have so many social media networks to choose from in addition to so many other online and offline platforms. While there are issues of preference and ability to consider you really should make great efforts to be available on every platform. While Instagram may be more your cup of tea a potential client may feel more comfortable with twitter and when they can’t find you on Twitter they look for the alternative they can find on Twitter. Make yourself available for phone calls and WhatsApp too, especially in our bundle based internet.

Uniformity

Uniformity comes in two parts. After making sure you’re on every platform, make sure the platforms are communicating the same message. It would be very unfortunate for a potential client who found you while looking for freelance accounting services on Twitter navigated to their preferred facebook and found those 7-year-old photos of you taking shots of vodka beyond sanity. If that’s your brand messaging great, just apply it consistently across your platforms both online and offline.

Use a checklist

The only constant in life is change and change will surely come to you too at some point. It’s possible to have complete rebrands, name changes and other changes in your approach which impact your footprint. When you do make changes it’s advisable to make sure changes are applied across the board. Nothing says to a potential customer “please don’t give me your money” like confusion or at least the appearance of it. So create a checklist of all the places you registered yourself or your business including that Snapchat account you haven’t been back to and make sure you apply the changes to it too.

Sync offline and online

As a continuation, I suppose we can also look at making sure you are the same person or business online and offline. I am not encouraging you to “be yourself” to your detriment, quite the contrary, just bear in mind that whichever “you” they meet first they expect to see that on other platforms. It’s not an easy subject to approach but the fact is people will appreciate consistency. If you are spending money on social media influencer campaigns then have terrible customer service you’re doing it wrong.

In many customer interactions, you will only ever get one chance to come across correctly. Imagine the frustration of someone when they try to find you but can’t? However, if you manage your footprint correctly, once is enough.